Can I upload full playthroughs onto YouTube?
Solution 1:
YouTube, in short, will not penalize you for uploading gameplay videos, except for a few exceptions:
- The video or description violates one of YouTube's Terms of Service, which you are required to follow (rules on abuse, hate speech, etc).
- You have copyrighted music playing. The YouTube AI will automatically copyright claim your video if it has music playing in the background that is protected by copyright laws. (examples include GTA radio or cutscene music)
- You are openly plagiarizing another video. It's pretty self-explanatory, just don't steal other people's stuff.
But other than those basic rules, you should be free to post nearly any game you want on YouTube.
Solution 2:
OKprogrammer describes the current status quo: most companies are okay with playthroughs being posted online. However, I do want to point out that this does fall into a legal gray area that has not to my knowledge been tested in court yet. Game companies may make copyright claims over playthroughs posted online, and have done so in the past:
- Campo Santo filed a copyright claim against PewDiePie and had a YouTube video taken down where he played their game Firewatch.
- Nintendo has at some points in the past claimed ad revenue on playthrough videos of their games, though they do currently allow players to monetize videos of their gameplay.
Odds are that you will be fine, as most studios recognize the promotional value of Let's Plays, and would not want to face a backlash from gamers for being seen as (ab)using copyright. I'm not aware of any studios that actively prohibit playthroughs. I just want to point out that the risk, while very low, is not zero.
Further reading:
- Let's Play: Copyright on Wikipedia
- Are Let’s Play videos legal? from Odin Law
- Table of explicitly-"Let's Play"-friendly developers