In early 2013, Nintendo briefly enacted a policy wherein they would flag any monetized YouTube videos with footage of their new games as the main focus in order to stop others from making money off their intellectual properties. These copyright claims kept people from being able to collect ad revenue from any videos featuring Nintendo games. Nintendo then posted their own ads at the beginning and end of these videos in order to take the ad revenue for themselves.
This was a huge blow to YouTube’s extensive community of Let’s Players, people who record themselves playing video games with commentary. Many of these LPers complained about Nintendo’s handling of the situation, arguing that they shouldn’t be punished because they give the games greater exposure. This outcry of disapproval seemingly forced Nintendo to back off, allowing Let’s Players to have the ad revenue.
However, Nintendo has recently announced their plan to take a portion of the ad revenue of YouTube videos featuring their games. A statement by a Nintendo representative on the new program was shared with gaming site Gamasutra:
Nintendo has been permitting the use of Nintendo copyrighted materials in videos on YouTube under appropriate circumstances. Advertisements may accompany those videos, and in keeping with previous policy the revenue is shared between YouTube and Nintendo.
In addition, for those who wish to use the material more proactively, we are preparing an affiliate program in which a portion of the advertising profit is given to the creator. Details about this affiliate program will be given in the future.
YouTube Policy and US Copyright Laws are on Nintendo’s Side
Nintendo has set up an affiliate ad revenue-sharing program where users who have recorded their games must ask their permission. The ad revenue will now be shared between Google, the video creator, and Nintendo in a ratio that has yet to be determined. Nintendo has already begun tagging videos with footage of their games and placing ads for other Nintendo products in the videos.
A similar affiliate program was used by Electronic Arts, and led to some controversy when it was revealed that the publisher had paid YouTube content creators to promote their games and avoid certain titles. Whether Nintendo will follow the same path has yet to be seen. Do you think Nintendo’s affiliate program is justified, seeing as its their IPs being used by others to make money, or are they mistreating their fans? Feel free to hash it out in the comments.
