Gamescom's opening show was briefly blocked by YouTube for Ubisoft copyright infringement
Ubisoft participated in the event, and apparently forgot to clear it on YouTube.
In accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, YouTube has to provide a way for copyright holders to report videos that infringe on their copyrights. The system is predictably imperfect, and false positives or unscrupulous uses of it have caused video creators headaches for years now.
Event creator and host Geoff Keighley probably had a pretty big headache today. Following his pre-Gamescom show, where we saw more Death Stranding footage and the announcement of Kerbal Space Program 2, his channel's video of the event was taken down on YouTube. "This video contains content from Ubisoft, who has blocked it on copyright grounds," it read.
Ubisoft participated in Opening Night Live, where it showed off Anno 1800 DLC. It then promptly blocked the footage to make sure no one could see its Anno 1800 DLC. It was obviously an accident, but it's pretty funny to see a publisher slap itself in the face with a DMCA takedown on an event it participated in.
Over on Twitch, the Kerbal Space Program 2 announcement trailer is muted in the VOD due to a different automated copyright strike. The copyright robocops have no mercy today.
It didn't take long for the issue with YouTube to be fixed. You can watch the revived video below:
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Tyler grew up in Silicon Valley during the '80s and '90s, playing games like Zork and Arkanoid on early PCs. He was later captivated by Myst, SimCity, Civilization, Command & Conquer, all the shooters they call "boomer shooters" now, and PS1 classic Bushido Blade (that's right: he had Bleem!). Tyler joined PC Gamer in 2011, and today he's focused on the site's news coverage. His hobbies include amateur boxing and adding to his 1,200-plus hours in Rocket League.
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