Streaming old games legal?

[thetallguy24]

So there's a group of us that get together to play old games like Street Fighter 2, RBI Baseball, Super Mario, etc.

 

I was wondering if it's legal to live stream or even just post videos of our game play online? We wouldn't be using ROMs, just the original carts that I own.

 

I know the big companies might not notice, but would the legal thing be to do is ask them for permission? Is live streaming these old games legal without permission from the copyright holder?

Edited April 22, 2015 by thetallguy24

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

Honestly it seems only Nintendo has been making an issue out of such things, likely "Asking permission" will simply alert them to something that would have more then likely gone unnoticed so I don't recommend bothering. Just go for it.

[thetallguy24]

Honestly it seems only Nintendo has been making an issue out of such things, likely "Asking permission" will simply alert them to something that would have more then likely gone unnoticed so I don't recommend bothering. Just go for it.

 

I'd heard Capcom gets feisty on these things too. Is that true?

[Austin]

Streaming games and making YouTube videos about games (not in a critical way, like a review) is still in a legal grey area right now. Most companies seem to be OK with it, but others like Nintendo, Capcom and Konami will monetize many videos you upload of their content, depending on the game.

 

Basically, it's perfectly fine to stream these games. There's no one stopping you and a place like Twitch doesn't have a system in place like YouTube does that will automatically flag your videos. However, if you upload them to YouTube, you can expect some of them to get flagged and monetized by some of these companies. Personally, I try not to upload Nintendo, Konami or Capcom footage specifically because they are the ones that get popped the most. On principle alone I am not looking to give these companies free money for time and effort I put in to compiling a video (even a longplay playthrough with a full commentary takes a good bit of time to put together), so I don't make them anymore--I'll cover games from other companies instead.

 

Don't worry about whether it is truly legal or not--if it wasn't, trust me, you would have heard something about it by now. User-created gaming videos is big business (look at Twitch being bought for a billion dollars) and I don't think that's going anywhere. A few companies will cry foul (Nintendo, Konami, etc), but they are the ones that are going to find out the hard way that it's better to take the free advertising. Most other companies are fine with that.

[fiddlepaddle]

If you have the carts and are playing the games with them, I'd think (at least in the US) that would be fair use of your personal property. Even if you're streaming the video, that's like using a camera. If you are sharing a cart across two or more people at a time, then technically you might need permission. In reality, especially if it's only a handfull of people, I seriously doubt if anybody will notice you, but if they do, and they care and decide to send you a C&D notice, then you can stop.

[thetallguy24]

If you have the carts and are playing the games with them, I'd think (at least in the US) that would be fair use of your personal property. Even if you're streaming the video, that's like using a camera. If you are sharing a cart across two or more people at a time, then technically you might need permission. In reality, especially if it's only a handfull of people, I seriously doubt if anybody will notice you, but if they do, and they care and decide to send you a C&D notice, then you can stop.

 

Haven't some companies tried to shut down bigger tournaments like EVO? Not saying we'll ever get that big. Just curious. Is using newer games like EVO does more of a concern to these companies, or would companies care if we had a group of 60 or so playing Warlords or F-Zero?

[thetallguy24]

Streaming games and making YouTube videos about games (not in a critical way, like a review) is still in a legal grey area right now. Most companies seem to be OK with it, but others like Nintendo, Capcom and Konami will monetize many videos you upload of their content, depending on the game.

 

Basically, it's perfectly fine to stream these games. There's no one stopping you and a place like Twitch doesn't have a system in place like YouTube does that will automatically flag your videos. However, if you upload them to YouTube, you can expect some of them to get flagged and monetized by some of these companies. Personally, I try not to upload Nintendo, Konami or Capcom footage specifically because they are the ones that get popped the most. On principle alone I am not looking to give these companies free money for time and effort I put in to compiling a video (even a longplay playthrough with a full commentary takes a good bit of time to put together), so I don't make them anymore--I'll cover games from other companies instead.

 

Don't worry about whether it is truly legal or not--if it wasn't, trust me, you would have heard something about it by now. User-created gaming videos is big business (look at Twitch being bought for a billion dollars) and I don't think that's going anywhere. A few companies will cry foul (Nintendo, Konami, etc), but they are the ones that are going to find out the hard way that it's better to take the free advertising. Most other companies are fine with that.

 

So, basically Twitch is a much safer route? Doesn't seem like anyone should be streaming on YouTube if itll be getting flagged.

[Austin]

 

So, basically Twitch is a much safer route? Doesn't seem like anyone should be streaming on YouTube if itll be getting flagged.

 

Either way is perfectly safe right now. I haven't heard of any companies requiring content creators to actually pull their videos. The companies that have cried foul simply monetize the video of yours that they have a "problem" with. Basically, ads will be forced on those videos and they will receive the revenue from those ads. Don't overthink it--if you are worried about getting arrested or fined because of streaming games, uploading gameplay videos to YouTube, or playing games with friends in a public location (say, you throw a party somewhere), it's not going to happen, so don't worry about it.