Fair use of content is a hard thing to pin down in the gaming space. How much of a Let’s Play or Top Five video is owned by the creator versus the company or individual that owns the game? It’s a tangled web of confusion that just gets more aggravating when algorithms are created in an attempt to automate the process of making copyright related actions. Popular gaming channel Gameranx, a show that’s probably most known for their Before You Buy series, got caught up in an awkward situation when fans and creators discovered footage lifted from their channels without permission.
Most of the controversy started to swell after it was pointed out by Suggestive Gaming on Reddit that a Gameranx video on the new God of War title may have used lifted footage, as well as similar beats and editing, from one of the videos on their the Suggestive Gaming YouTube channel. The Reddit post has been updated with the details as they unfolded. The video from which Sugggestive Gaming claimed Gameranx had used footage can be seen below.
Baldino defended the video they had made at first, but later it was discovered that one of the editors at Gameranx had been using downloaded footage.
Apparently Suggestive Gaming weren’t the only ones being lifted from. Jared “ProJared” Knabenbauer, known for his retro reviews and D&D content, also pointed that some of his fellow Normalboots YouTuber, Austin “PeanutButterGamer” Hargrave’s footage of Super Bomberman R on Switch had been used.
.@gameranx I'm not sure what's worse about your Worst Games of 2017 video - the intentionally vague script to get away with describing each game without having to play them, or the blatantly stolen Bomberman footage from @PeanutButterGmr https://t.co/MThDUlF0YS
— Jared Knabenbauer (@ProJared) December 30, 2017
Gameranx did submit an official apology statement on their website. The statement was reposted on their Twitter and echoed by Jake Baldino on his personal twitter account.
We need to apologize. pic.twitter.com/rH6bEctSTr
— gameranx (@gameranx) January 7, 2018
The whole situation likely could’ve been averted if Gameranx had just asked to use that footage. Making daily content does have the tendency to take its tolls and the online space can become a breeding ground for small mistakes with big repercussions. Capturing game footage can slow down production to a crawl, but credit has be given where credit is due.
It is hard to tell what was going through that editor’s mind when creating those videos. It could’ve been pressure to meet a quota or just pure laziness. That said, that blame was shouldered by the company brand and the creator. Unfortunately, each channel’s size makes things seem dubious, even if there was no intention of such. The fact is that Gameranx, as large as it is, was found to be stealing from a smaller channels.
Of course, this brings into question the idea of public knowledge and fair use. Once a video is put onto YouTube, what is the legal ramifications of derivative work? Is it up to the community to just show good faith, regardless of those lines? Moving forward, it will be interesting to see how this situation might shape content presented by Gameranx, Suggestive Gaming, and other content creators.
Suggestive Gaming certainly seemed ready to move, posting their own response on Twitter regarding the entire controversy.
RE: The @gameranx stuff.
— Suggestive Gaming (@SuggestiveGames) January 7, 2018
We're not posting anything new about this. There won't be a video, or a statement. We're not trying to stir controversy for publicity.
We only want what gameranx did to be known, and for them to ACTUALLY do something to prevent it in the future.
When asked if they had any closing thoughts on the matter, Suggestive Gaming responded with a new statement about Gameranx and any future misuse of content.
“Our only thoughts going forward are that we hope Gameranx follows through with their proclamation to do better in the future. And that it's up to the gaming community to be vigilant and call them (and others) out if they see this in the future.”
At the end of the day, the pursuit of high quality content created in the gaming space continues, but Gameranx has since removed their accused video from YouTube following their apology. It remains to be seen if they will follow clean on their claim to pursue better standards.
