"Fair Use" in Videogame Reviews?

[robbartn]

My jurisdiction is: New Hampshire, USA

If I were to use gameplay footage in a videogame review, would this qualify under fair use? I wouldn't use any more than 3 minutes of in-game footage at a time (the whole review probably being about 3.5-4 minutes in total), however I know this is a gray region in law so I am asking the professionals. I plan on posting these reviews on youtube and I would gain no commercial profit from their creation.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

It's difficult to understand what you are doing. You want to post a review of a game you played and paste the video output of the game on YouTube as part of a personal review of gameplay?

 

[Strongbadia]

Since this person never replied, I will answer for him. Yes, that is part of what he is doing. It is a fad on You Tube to do this. People post 5-15 minutes of game play sometimes intercut with footage of themselves talking into the camera. Some people review games in a serious fashion while some have a lot of "shtick" to their reviews where there is some humor for gamers. The humor is where they might show a lot of exaggerated frustration, swearing at how bad the game is etc.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Yep, everyone has their 15 minutes of fame on YouTube, trying to stand out from the crowd for better... and for worse! Thanks for the comment!

 

[lolbob]

I would think it would qualify, but who knows with the DMCA.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

It's more traditional copyright law than the DMCA that is at issue, IMHO.