Japanese YouTuber convicted of copyright violation after uploading Let’s Play videos::A 53-year-old Japanese man has been convicted of copyright infringement after uploading gameplay videos of visual novel Steins;Gate: My Darling’s Embrace and videos summarizing Spy × Family and Steins;Gate anime episodes.
It’s even more complicated because he posted it to YouTube two days before the game even came out, potentially devastating their early sales
It’s impossible to prove the harm piracy does or does not do, and in general I agree that it shouldn’t be illegal in the first place or at least shouldn’t carry more than a slap on the wrist fine, this is the world we live in and the dude uploaded a game to YouTube in its entirety before the game released, which is the kind of thing you don’t do in a world where copyright claims send you to jail
Yikes, this is the part where I side with the developers.
Let’s play as a consumer helps me determine if I should buy the game or not. Because watching someone play a game isn’t the same as playing it. But, showcasing the whole game before release? That feels wrong.
I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s wrong for a lot of games, but for a visual novel, that can definitely be damaging to sales. If an entire let’s play of cities skylines 2 came out, showing every progression milestone and all of the features, I’m still buying it on release. If anything the video would help cement that decision. For a visual novel? Well I’ve already seen the entire novel so, who cares. Generally though, if you have early access to a game before release, you should be respecting the developers guidelines, and are likely contractually obligated to do so.
It’s apparently a port of a game that came out in 2011, though?