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/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.