Blizzard is taking down my channel: request for advice on youtube procedures

[Tassadaru]

I also am accustomed to Blizz DMCA'ing videos.

In my long history here streaming BlizzCon, one year they DMCA'd some fresh vids. I got into contact via email with the person issuing the DMCA (a lawyer of theirs), and we agreed that I would take down the vids and they would revoke the DMCA. There has to be an email address listed, try contacting them and see if you can reach an agreement.

Just my two cents.

[advanta]

I also am accustomed to Blizz DMCA'ing videos.

In my long history here streaming BlizzCon, one year they DMCA'd some fresh vids. I got into contact via email with the person issuing the DMCA (a lawyer of theirs), and we agreed that I would take down the vids and they would revoke the DMCA. There has to be an email address listed, try contacting them and see if you can reach an agreement.

Just my two cents.

Yeah that's the type of scenario I was looking for. Thanks for your input.

[zycamzip]

Let us know the outcome. I am waiting for the days to come close, then I will take them all and put them up elsewhere, as an archive.

[advanta]

Let us know the outcome. I am waiting for the days to come close, then I will take them all and put them up elsewhere, as an archive.

It isn't clear. They said I have seven days from the date the copyright strike (30 may) before my channel is deleted. I filed a counter-infraction claim and they said they give
Blizzard 10 days to respond. I'm assuming that the channel is going to get deleted tomorrow or the day after, but is all rather badly explained.

Seems this system could really be easily abused by games companies for any reason, regardless of this specific situation. Blizzard easily could just do this to silence critics
of BFA for example. There's no effective comeback unless you have the funds to sue them in court.

[Patt_French]

It isn't clear. They said I have seven days from the date the copyright strike (30 may) before my channel is deleted. I filed a counter-infraction claim and they said they give
Blizzard 10 days to respond. I'm assuming that the channel is going to get deleted tomorrow or the day after, but is all rather badly explained.

Seems this system could really be easily abused by games companies for any reason, regardless of this specific situation. Blizzard easily could just do this to silence critics
of BFA for example. There's no effective comeback unless you have the funds to sue them in court.

And they will win in court even if you have money:
You own a license, have to respect EULA/ToS.
Exploits are not compatible with WoW's EULA.
Once you break the terms, you're playing on a "pirate" version of the game. Even if Blizz did not caught you right away.
And they'll own your ass with a copyright claim like if you were downloading pirated softwares.

It's not "Big bad blizzard", it's just the law. You don't own the game. You own a license.
Take your original 2004 game manual and read the first pages (page 3 I think):
They clearly say that you own a license, not the game.

It's all about the RAM, see:
MDY Industries, LLC v. Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. - Wikipedia.

Basically you are playing on a pirated version of the game (revoked/non valid license) on cam.

[advanta]

And they will win in court even if you have money:
You own a license, have to respect EULA/ToS.

A court would decide if the tos were reasonable. Probably it wouldn't, because Blizzard have no clear definition of what an exploit is.
The glider case doesn't apply: there is no ambiguity about the use of a botting program which is a very specific thing. Neither I nor
anybody has any real knowledge of what an exploit is, and that includes Blizzard employees.

That said, no one has actually mentioned exploits in the context of this case. So far this is just a copyright issue.

[Patt_French]

A court would decide if the tos were reasonable. Probably it wouldn't, because Blizzard have no clear definition of what an exploit is.
The glider case doesn't apply: there is no ambiguity about the use of a botting program which is a very specific thing. Neither I nor
anybody has any real knowledge of what an exploit is, and that includes Blizzard employees.

That said, no one has actually mentioned exploits in the context of this case. So far this is just a copyright issue.

License Limitations. Blizzard may suspend or revoke your license to use the Platform, or parts, components and/or single features thereof, if you violate, or assist others in violating, the license limitations set forth below. You agree that you will not, in whole or in part or under any circumstances, do the following:

1. Derivative Works: Copy or reproduce (except as provided in Section 1.B.), translate, reverse engineer, derive source code from, modify, disassemble, decompile, or create derivative works based on or related to the Platform.
2. Cheating: Create, use, offer, promote, advertise, make available and/or distribute the following or assist therein:
   
   • cheats; i.e. methods, not expressly authorized by Blizzard, influencing and/or facilitating the gameplay, including exploits of any in-game bugs, and thereby granting you and/or any other user an advantage over other players not using such methods;
   • bots; i.e. any code and/or software, not expressly authorized by Blizzard, that allows the automated control of a Game, or any other feature of the Platform, e.g. the automated control of a character in a Game;
   • hacks; i.e. accessing or modifying the software of the Platform in an manner, not expressly authorized by Blizzard; and/or
   • any code and/or software, not expressly authorized by Blizzard, that can be used in connection with the Platform and/or any component or feature thereof which changes and/or facilitates the gameplay or other functionality;
   
   

Exploits are in the cheating part of Battle.net/WoW EULA as "methods not expressly authorized by Blizzard" that "influence or facilitate the gameplay" including "in-game bugs"...
And you explicitly said in some of your videos that some stuff you do will be fixed soon because it's game breaking.

But yeah my bad I wasn't fully awake, it's not about exploits or cheating.
It's just because you show in-game footage and somehow Blizz consider it as copyrighted content.

Blizzard Entertainment strongly supports the efforts of its community members who produce community videos (referred to hereafter as a "Production") using video images, footage, music, sounds, speech, or other assets from Blizzard's copyrighted products ("Blizzard Content"), subject to a few conditions. Note, however, that Blizzard Content does not include trailers or advertisements promoting Blizzard games or services that are not incorporated into a Blizzard game.

Blizzard just let players record videos but consider that the content is theirs.
They just let you use it for free if it's for non-commercial purposes or just Youtube/Twitch/etc:

The only exceptions to this rule are if you participate in partner programs with YouTube, Justin.tv, Blip.tv, Own3d.tv, or Ustream.tv (the “Production Websites”) whereby a Production Website may pay you for views of a Production if you are accepted into their partner program.

So... I think you're f*ed. They consider the content in your videos (execpt your voice/titles/etc) to be under Blizzard copyright.
And as it's their content being used, it's a normal DMCA request.

Yeah this is bad x)
As you said it can be used as a censorship tool.

(my bad english is bad)

[Hazzbazzy]

A court would decide if the tos were reasonable. Probably it wouldn't, because Blizzard have no clear definition of what an exploit is.
The glider case doesn't apply: there is no ambiguity about the use of a botting program which is a very specific thing. Neither I nor
anybody has any real knowledge of what an exploit is, and that includes Blizzard employees.

That said, no one has actually mentioned exploits in the context of this case. So far this is just a copyright issue.

Depends on the country. There's cases in Germany where people have contested Blizzard don't have the right to ban their account, and won.

[advanta]

Exploits are in the cheating part of Battle.net/WoW EULA as "methods not expressly authorized by Blizzard" that "influence or facilitate the gameplay" including "in-game bugs"...
And you explicitly said in some of your videos that some stuff you do will be fixed soon because it's game breaking.

But yeah my bad I wasn't fully awake, it's not about exploits or cheating.
It's just because you show in-game footage and somehow Blizz consider it as copyrighted content.



Blizzard just let players record videos but consider that the content is theirs.
They just let you use it for free if it's for non-commercial purposes or just Youtube/Twitch/etc:


So... I think you're f*ed. They consider the content in your videos (execpt your voice/titles/etc) to be under Blizzard copyright.
And as it's their content being used, it's a normal DMCA request.

Yeah this is bad x)
As you said it can be used as a censorship tool.

(my bad english is bad)

Regarding me being, as you put it, "fucked". Not really, regardless of how this works out. I never made any money from youtube. It is quite an expensive loss-leader for me.
It is not that youtube pay you minimum wage at that level-they pay you one-tenth of minimum wage. For what is often 60 hours of work a week.

Most of my income comes from Patreon.

The reason I produce youtube content is mainly so people who can't afford a premium service get interesting content. It doesn't really make any
sense to do it for financial reasons.

I liked producing videos because I liked making content for people who can't afford a paid service.

With regard to Blizzard's TOS, yes I know what is in there. The issue is, is that reasonable in law? Probably not. You have to define a term like "exploit" properly. They've never done that.

I'm tempted to take this to court so I can have a jury looking at one of my videos where dozens of sheep follow me around Elwynn (yes that did happen in a flagged video)
, and Blizzard look ridiculous.

[advanta]

Depends on the country. There's cases in Germany where people have contested Blizzard don't have the right to ban their account, and won.

Yes, unfortunately the Germans have a rather more independent legal system than we do here in the UK.

[Patt_French]

Regarding me being, as you put it, "fucked". Not really, regardless of how this works out. I never made any money from youtube. It is quite an expensive loss-leader for me.
It is not that youtube pay you minimum wage at that level-they pay you one-tenth of minimum wage. For what is often 60 hours of work a week.

Most of my income comes from Patreon.

The reason I produce youtube content is mainly so people who can't afford a premium service get interesting content. It doesn't really make any
sense to do it for financial reasons.

I liked producing videos because I liked making content for people who can't afford a paid service.

It's irrelevant.
The content (pure unedited game footage you are using) is copyrighted.
Even if you don't make money with it they can ask you to take it down.

A copyrighted content being distributed on, idk, a p2p network for free is still illegal to share without the creator consent. Even if you don't make money with it.

Don't take it to court. Just don't.

EDIT: to be clear, I said "fucked" speaking about your channel, not you.
Your channel will be deleted, but you won't face any legal stuff.

[advanta]

It's irrelevant.
The content (pure unedited game footage you are using) is copyrighted.
Even if you don't make money with it they can ask you to take it down.

A copyrighted content being distributed on, idk, a p2p network for free is still illegal to share without the creator consent. Even if you don't make money with it.

Don't take it to court. Just don't.

I wasn't referring to the legalities. I'm aware it doesn't matter if the content is monetized.

I was referring to your "fucked" comment. I'm not "fucked". My viewers are. Blizzard probably are since they'll now have to fix their own bugs, something they don't know how to do.

If I take this to court, I will probably win. I'd rather avoid that if possible.

[Patt_French]

I wasn't referring to the legalities. I'm aware it doesn't matter if the content is monetized.

I was referring to your "fucked" comment. I'm not "fucked". My viewers are. Blizzard probably are since they'll now have to fix their own bugs, something they don't know how to do.

If I take this to court, I will probably win. I'd rather avoid that if possible.

I edited my post before seeing this post.
Yeah I was speaking about your channel. Anyway,

But the fact that you think you can win in court for this amaze me.
It as nothing to do with bugs, it's just copyrighted video footage. And they say they can ask you to take it down whenever they want in their video policy.

[Mickks]

Forgive me for my severe lack of knowledge regarding take down inquiries and copyright on youtube. But, isn't a video in which you put your own commentary over fair-use in most cases?
Deciding if Video is Fair Use

[advanta]

Forgive me for my severe lack of knowledge regarding take down inquiries and copyright on youtube. But, isn't a video in which you put your own commentary over fair-use in most cases?
Deciding if Video is Fair Use

That's one possible line of defense. Several flagged videos certainly qualify on those grounds (eg the dh one on the exploits page). All of the videos are transformative.