Grand Theft Auto V: Rockstar Voices its Copyright Policy

Grand Theft Auto 5 has become histories fastest selling video game series by selling an impressive £1bn worth of copies across the world in just three days. Â

Grand Theft Auto is a fictional version of the world. Players adopt the life of a character in a free world in which the character goes on to complete missions to progress an overall storyline.

British company Rockstar that developed the game has raised concerns about users uploading footage of their game play on various video streaming sites such as YouTube which may spoil the storyline for other players.

Rockstar has said “we are happy for fans to upload footage of their game play,” it continued that it “…does not object to fans using materials for non-commercial uses in a manner which does not intentionally spoil the plot for others”. Â

To make its copyright policy crystal clear to players, Rockstar has outlined a list of content that, if posted, would result in a takedown notice:

-         “Spoilers: Positing videos showing the ending of the game, pure cut scenes or any other big reveal in the story. It’s ok to show cut scenes as a part of a larger play-through (or in a narrated ‘Let’s Play’ type video) but isolated videos of the game’s cinematics will be removed.”

 -         “In-game Entertainment: Things like the TV shows and comedy performances in Grand Theft Auto IV, or the silent movies in Red Dead Redemption. We prefer fans to experience these in the context of the game’s world, so any posting of these in isolation will be flagged or removal.”

Rocskstar have made in clear that the copyright policy and takedown notice is not just limited to players doing the above acts. Rockstar says objection to content being uploaded or taken down is subject to a case by case analysis.

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