05-22-2013, 12:20 AM
Since apparently I have to,
As much as Korean television would like you to believe, playing a video game is not even close to playing a sport. I'm no sports expert, but the legal definition of sports (as used in the case of Noffke v. Bakke) is "[a]n activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs," and before you attempt to pass button-pressing and joystick-wiggling as "physical exertion". The legal/medical definition for "physical activity" is "any bodily movement produced by the contraction of skeletal muscle that increases energy expenditure above a basal level" (using a controller, typing on a keyboard and flicking your Wii Remote do not consume enough energy to get you from rest to your basal level).
This means Wii Sports and Kinect Sports are indeed legally sports.
However, most games are not sports. Now let's review what a copyright infringement is. Here we see the legal definition.
"As a general matter, copyright infringement occurs when a copyrighted work is reproduced, distributed, performed, publicly displayed, or made into a derivative work without the permission of the copyright owner. "
This means you were wrong in saying they've "legally created a derivative work". They've actually illegally created a derivative work. And they're performing/publicly displaying it. That's already breaking copyright law. Nintendo can sue those making Let's Plays. Did they do that? No. Should they? It'd be too much work and not worth the hassle, especially when Nintendo can make money off of literally every Nintendo Let's Play on YouTube.
Feel free to argue with the United States Government, but I'll warn you that they've not a good reputation.
As much as Korean television would like you to believe, playing a video game is not even close to playing a sport. I'm no sports expert, but the legal definition of sports (as used in the case of Noffke v. Bakke) is "[a]n activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs," and before you attempt to pass button-pressing and joystick-wiggling as "physical exertion". The legal/medical definition for "physical activity" is "any bodily movement produced by the contraction of skeletal muscle that increases energy expenditure above a basal level" (using a controller, typing on a keyboard and flicking your Wii Remote do not consume enough energy to get you from rest to your basal level).
This means Wii Sports and Kinect Sports are indeed legally sports.
However, most games are not sports. Now let's review what a copyright infringement is. Here we see the legal definition.
"As a general matter, copyright infringement occurs when a copyrighted work is reproduced, distributed, performed, publicly displayed, or made into a derivative work without the permission of the copyright owner. "
This means you were wrong in saying they've "legally created a derivative work". They've actually illegally created a derivative work. And they're performing/publicly displaying it. That's already breaking copyright law. Nintendo can sue those making Let's Plays. Did they do that? No. Should they? It'd be too much work and not worth the hassle, especially when Nintendo can make money off of literally every Nintendo Let's Play on YouTube.
Feel free to argue with the United States Government, but I'll warn you that they've not a good reputation.