Why are songs and movies copyrighted but you can upload a full playthrough of a video game on YouTube?
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It s also technically illegal, but companies have decided not to prosecute because it actually drives up their sales.
Some game publishers give explicit permission for players to make videos, while others just choose not to act on it.
In both cases, the videos are still derivatives of the publishers copyrighted work, and they would be within their rights to have it taken down, but have made the business decision that it is not worth doing so. This can be because they feel watching gameplay footage doesn’t compete with game sales, or even if it does, it is outweighed by the video providing free promotion that could increase sales. Also, they have to consider the negative PR that would result if they target gamers’ videos – a large and vocal community exists around game videos and streaming.
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They can be deemed to be in breach of copyright – Nintendo famously only allow certain people to do let’s plays of their games no matter how old.
Playing a game isn’t the same as reproducing a song or movie, however.
The people making video games believe that having a full playthrough of them uploaded on YouTube isn’t an actual substitute for playing the game. Watching someone else play the game on YouTube isn’t the same sort of experience as playing it yourself. And that you might see someone play that game and decide to buy it and play it yourself as a result.
However, listening to a song on YouTube or watching a movie on YouTube is an actual substitute for buying the song or the movie. You aren’t very likely to go and buy the movie on Blu-ray after watching it for free on YouTube. So the companies who own those media want to make sure they aren’t being streamed on YouTube without their permission.