Not too long ago there was this huge fiasco over Yotube videos and how a lot of ordinary people were making videos of themselves playing video games. While that seems normal, many people choose to monetize their video creations and make a good living that way. For a lot of companies this triggers a copyright complaint where the original creator of the game itself will then take all of the profits from the fan made video.
This created a debate on whether or not that is right and business wise how the company actually gains from having hundreds of people make videos of them playing the games. Recently I was reading how Nintendo has decided to introduce a Youtube affiliate program where they will essentially split the ad revenues with the content creator.
That’s kind of interesting as I can see it from both sides of the fence. I am inclined to say that it’s better to let people openly talk or showcase your work in these cases as long as you aren’t distributing the product/content illegally in its original form. I guess another way to think about it, for those who are not as in-tune in the online realm, is if you ran a business that catered to party events and you happened to play this game where everyone is going to sit around and watch you play is that not good for everyone? Imagine in that case you couldn’t do that as you would instantly be asked to give that company a cut of your earnings for the event.
I think for most businesses too advertising is usually one of the biggest financial drainers. If anything you should be promoting to have people help spread the word of your product or service I think.