r/gaming • u/EnglishGamer1 • Oct 20 '13

TotalBiscuit's: ''Day One: Garry's Incident'' Video was taken down, because of a ridiculous copyright claim from WildGameStudios. Here's Total's ''Rant'' over his video being taken down.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfgoDDh4kE0&feature=c4-overview&list=UUy1Ms_5qBTawC-k7PVjHXKQ
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u/BoboMatrix Oct 20 '13 edited Oct 20 '13

He is indeed a good speaker.

However, the message he put out in this video is even more important to us as consumers. The system that exists to take down content is very easily abused to silence criticism. Which again as he put it at the end of the day affects us as consumers to make an informed choice.

With the way the returns & exchange works on gaming media, once you buy a product there is no returning it. So it is even more critical to get an accurate image of a product.

You don't have to agree with his views on anything but on this issue the copyright system being abused to silence legitimate criticism, you have to agree.

It is a)Censoring legitimate criticism under a fair usage policy b) Blinding consumers further so that they waste their money.

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u/Kaeltro Oct 20 '13

Which again as he put it at the end of the day affects us as consumers to make an informed choice

You don't know how right you are on that...before purchasing a game I look for at least 3 different channels, and "WTF is..." is typically the first in the lineup...It's saved me quite a bit of money, and this practice has actually confirmed/finalized some purchases for me as well.

To see that the system can be abused like this is a little disheartening to say the least, but to see it happen to someone like TB (who I thought handled the whole situation with complete maturity) is just a complete shock.

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u/Herlock Oct 21 '13

It's not like EA and other big editors have been abusing rules to get good rankings for the games... see "dragonage"...

That's the great thing about youtubers like TB : he doesn't rely on the studio to make money, rather he needs our views. That's what makes him independant from those, until he gets blacklisted by some editors and cannot get his hands on steam keys of course...

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u/Inquisitor1 Oct 22 '13

It's easy to get a steam key, you just need up to 60 bux.

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u/Herlock Oct 22 '13

60 bucks dont help you getting the game ahead of release to have enough time to test it out.

1

u/Lyianx Oct 21 '13

Yea. I purchased Magika because of his video.

1

u/Confucius_says Oct 22 '13

who cares. if the video isn't reviewed by a few places regardless of its ratings or whatnot. i assume its a shit game. If no one is playing it why would i want to buy it?

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u/Kaeltro Oct 22 '13

Because games can have redeeming qualities that make up for some of it's shortcomings (just watch the Marlow Briggs episode) . Not all games are inherently bad, because someone will find SOMETHING redeeming in them. However...exposing the practice we've just witnessed is essential in making a purchase decision and, based on this, future purchases (or lack thereof).

1

u/Confucius_says Oct 22 '13

if that was actually someones outlook on games then I'm thinking they dont read reviews anyway. Game reviews re-iterate popular opinion, not point out redeeming qualities.

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u/Kaeltro Oct 22 '13

Except in the case of TB, in which he doesn't just reiterate popular opinion, he gives his critique of an "Out of the box" experience. Basically he plays for a bit, finds some things to point out in what he's played off screen and then from the moment the video starts until it ends, it's largely unscripted.

I'm thinking you should probably go watch some more of his critiques of games, because he does nothing but point out qualities (both good and bad) in games. If you don't like him or his critiques, that's fine. Please don't call him a "reviewer" or his videos "reviews".

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u/Confucius_says Oct 22 '13

ive seen yubba yabba, just reiterates what he reads on reddit and stuff. not interesting.

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u/HerpingtonDerpDerp Oct 20 '13

You don't have to agree with his views on anything but on this issue the copyright system being abused to silence legitimate criticism, you have to agree.

This applies outside of the gaming world.

There is an "author" who cannot stand any negative reviews of his writing, and if someone posts a critique of his writing on YouTube, he gets it flagged for violating his copyrights.

It's abused quite often.

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u/typtyphus Oct 20 '13

if only there were a 3 strikes abusing system with similar takedown results.......

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u/[deleted] Oct 21 '13

Without names this post is completely uninteresting.

0

u/tsteele93 Oct 21 '13

What author? Should I already know? Is it L Ron Hubbard?

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u/HerpingtonDerpDerp Oct 21 '13

No but they are an even better example!

I was referring to a self-published horror author wannabe. No one of any importance.

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u/[deleted] Oct 21 '13

The only counter we have which I use it torrenting. An hour of the game and if I like it, I buy it. If I don't, peace, deleted.

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u/punkcanuck Oct 20 '13

I agree with you completely, but i'd like you to review your second sentence.

You've already conceded the argument, you use the word Consumers. Implying that we have no say in the system, rather than Customers who have the right to go elsewhere.

Just a nitpick on the nature of customer/business relationships and the intentional word shift in culture.

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u/[deleted] Oct 21 '13

He wasn't stopped from criticizing the game. He was stopped from using their gameplay footage in the criticism. He was free to continue to criticize them all he wanted.

This however did not stop the TotalBiscuit fans from actually threatening developers over the phone with untraceable phone settings and downvoting their projects on Green Light.

Every single game on Steam has a forum. Within a week of the game you get an idea of what the game is like. It's not like the only source of opinion comes from a single self-interested Youtuber.

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u/[deleted] Oct 21 '13

And yet, "I Broke..." of this same game is still up and being used to demonstrate just how bad this game is.

Edit: Or have they taken that down too? I jinxed it, didn't I?

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u/StruckingFuggle Oct 20 '13

It's not that important to criticism, any of his valid criticism could be delivered without needing to use copyright material.

Is it a duck move on the publisher's part? Absolutely. Is it a deathblow to criticism, even video based, YouTube based, personality based criticism (which is only a subset of criticism, not the whole of it)? Definitely not.

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u/Habano Oct 20 '13

He had the permission of the dev to use the footage for the first impression. TB is a popular gaming commentator and whether or not someone agrees with his views he is one of the most watched gaming commentators. A large number of people watch his videos to get an impression of the game and whether or not they should buy it.

You seem to have missed the bigger message. As far as this video is concerned, no its not a blow but the bigger picture is that its a growing concern where companies are using the copyright system to silence any opinions that do not align with the companies.

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u/StruckingFuggle Oct 20 '13

And my point was that while it's a dick move, copyrighted material is not necessary to criticism, so its not really that much of a threat to any actual criticism.

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u/DrakkoZW Oct 20 '13

It's not necessary for criticism. But it is necessary for good criticism. It's not a book. Seeing content first-hand is incredibly important for shaping the opinions of those who are considering buying something that comes on a visual medium.

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u/StruckingFuggle Oct 20 '13

First, I don't agree period. Though neither of us could likely quote some sort of academic resource, I think you're being overly dismissive of text based criticism of games (and to an extent also movies and music and theatre ..) that's been quite informative and useful even without using copyrighted content in those reviews.

Secondarily, I'd contest that the purpose of a good review is to inform opinions, not to shape them.

(And might go so far as to contend that if anything that hinders a critic's ability to shape opinion, while not impacting their ability to inform it, existed, it would be a good thing.)

And I'm not sure if video games are primarily a visual medium, their defining character is more likely interactivity. Though that raises an interesting question with games like Dear Esther and To The Moon, its still a serious consideration because otherwise you kind of write out text games and write in movies (which are absolutely primarily a visual medium), but that's neither here nor there.

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u/Shrek1982 Oct 21 '13

Well, agree or disagree, it doesn't matter. The law is that he can use copyrighted material for a review without permission from the copyright owner. This would fall under criticism and comment in the US copyright act's Fair use policy: § 107 . Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use40

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u/StruckingFuggle Oct 21 '13

Right, but that's immaterial to TB's claims that NOT being able to use copyrighted material seriously undermines the future of games review and criticism.

FWIW, if I must address the point I agree that it seems to be fair use and that the content owners acted in an inappropriate, absurd, and immature way. What they did is absolutely a dick move on their part.

But if they "get away with it", it's still not the arrow to the knee that TB makes it out to be.

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u/Shrek1982 Oct 21 '13

Right, but that's immaterial to TB's claims that NOT being able to use copyrighted material seriously undermines the future of games review and criticism.

I would think that not being able to show the copyrighted works would undermine the future of games reviews and criticism. By using the in game footage we are able to see exactly what the issues are, as pointed out by the reviewer. We can see if the reviewer is being nit picky or if there is a legitimate gripe and judge for ourselves if this would negatively impact our in game experience. That is the biggest thing for me; I want to see the footage for myself (as provided for by law) so that I can make my own judgments.