Screenwriter and cultural commentator Kevin Smith has declared his support for content creators on YouTube, who are currently facing a barrage of copyright notices that threaten their livelihood.
Speaking on George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight in Canada, the writer of Clerks, Chasing Amy and Dogma said that creators ought to be allowed to use game assets to make new content. In the past week, YouTube has issued thousands of copyright notices to video makers, often generated by music companies seeking to secure advertising revenues from the shows' popularity.
Some games companies are also seeking revenues from video shows, sometimes known as Let's Plays, while others are keen for the shows to continue.
"On YouTube they are starting to cull all these video game clips," he said. "YouTube are starting to pull back on the freedom of expression that people have been enjoying. Now video game companies are jumping into the fray on behalf of the kids [content creators] saying, let them run these clips. Let them have fun. These kids are not hurting anyone."
You can follow Polygon's coverage of the YouTube Let's Play crackdown on our Story Stream.
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