Kevin Turner
From YouTube channel ShinKensou
Kevin Turner is a very storied personality within gaming, specifically in the genre of fighting games. He has won and made high placings in many fighting game tournaments, including the Evolution Championship Series in 2004 as the only American to place in the Top 8 for the game Guilty Gear X2. In more recent years, Kevin put competing in the backseat and focused on making video game-related content for YouTube, Twitch and TikTok. On his YouTube channel called “ShinKensou,” Kevin posts videos on a variety of gaming issues, including game reviews, tutorials on how to improve in fighting games and how to play particular games. As of May 31, 2022, his YouTube channel had almost 7,000 subscribers. He also coaches for the games he has competed in since a lot of his content was made to be educational within the realm of the games. This way, he can flex his skills in Photoshop and video editing all while making a living doing something he loves.
Copyright law protects two primary facets of video games: the audiovisual elements of the game and the video game software. YouTubers creating content featuring videos games must be mindful of the copyrights protecting the audiovisual elements in the games (music and images).
Video game companies typically have not been aggressive in raising copyright claims against YouTubers who include video game content in their videos. But there have been exceptions. For example, in early 2022, the popular YouTuber known as “GilvaSunner” who was known for uploading a lot of classic video game music and whose channel had 1.5 billion video views was hit with over 3,500 copyright claims from Nintendo. In response, GilvaSunner decided to shut their channel down as it was not worth trying to dispute the myriad claims from Nintendo.
Fortunately, Kevin has not faced any copyright strikes that jeopardize his YouTube channel and force him to shut down or takedown any videos in recent times. Kevin has reduced the threat of losing any videos, mostly by taking steps to minimize or eliminate copyright infringement problems in his videos and adapting to the Content ID system. For example, for background music in his videos, he uses the royalty-free music service Epidemic Sound, where you pay for a license to use music for videos, streams, etc. Many YouTubers take advantage of these types of music services.
We asked Kevin how the DMCA has impacted him and his career on YouTube, his thoughts on the Content ID system, and how he has adapted his content. He tells us that the Content ID system warns YouTubers if their video is infringing someone’s copyright, which allows him to make changes to the video before posting it to his channel, and praised the Content ID system’s reliability.
Overall, Kevin Turner, who is well acquainted with YouTube, its Content ID system, and copyright infringement claims has adapted well to the system. Since the Content ID system helps him adjust his videos to be acceptable for upload and monetization, his praise of it seems well warranted.
Further reading:
https://liquipedia.net/fighters/Evolution_Championship_Series/2004/GGXX
https://www.wipo.int/copyright/en/activities/video_games.html
https://www.thegamer.com/youtube-nintendo-music-copyright-strike/