This is not something anyone can make up; it sounds too stupid and greedy to be done by people. Several game indie game developers, such as Mike Bithell of Thomas Was Alone and Terry Cavanagh of VVVVVV, have received copyright claims on several of the videos they have uploaded to YouTube, featuring their own games.
The claims are coming, as with many of these YouTube copyright claims, from companies with seemingly no connection to the games at all. Indmusic and Tunecore seem to be the primary culprits, making their claims based upon some of the music in these games. As of writing, neither company has seen fit to make any comment on the situation.
The developers involved are understandably livid about the situation, with a few obvious questions being raised. How does a company, even one that legitimately owns the rights to the music of a game, have the right to take monetization rights away from the creator of the game itself? I could understand preventing monetization altogether, but monetizing the videos themselves?
If anyone has the precise legal understanding to explain how a music copyright can override the actual creator of a piece of content, please explain in the comments below. This sounds like everything wrong with copyright law.
