Author: Anushka Kalluri, Damodaram Sanjivayya National Law University
ABSTRACT
Game streaming is an increasing cultural and economic phenomenon through the streamlining of platforms such as YouTube Gaming, Twitch, and Discord Gaming. It’s spearheaded by streamers like Technoblade, Mortal, and Dynamo Gaming who add their innovative signature touches to gameplay while drawing millions of viewers and revenue streams.
In contrast, game streaming exists in India at the intersection of creative expression and intellectual property law. Gamers get creative by transforming copyrighted gameplay into another form of their content, while developers and publishers exercise their rights over their copyrighted works concerning its use and monetization. This article examines the copyright provisions under the Indian legal framework concerning streaming and highlights lacunae in the current regulation, mindful of suggesting balanced reforms to align Indian copyright law with global developments in the gaming industry. This paper addresses such issues by examining the intersection of technology and intellectual property protection.
GAME STREAMING OVERVIEW IN INDIA
Game streaming in India has proceeded by leaps and bounds, largely aided by higher internet penetration, cheaper smartphones, and a youth audience estimating more than 800 million. Gamers such as Scout (Tanmay Singh) and Mortal (Naman Mathur) have achieved camp fame with PUBG Mobile and Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI). Their content transcends pure gameplay. Their success speaks to the possibility of game streaming but also puts one in the picture of the legal hurdles in this monetization process by copyright material.
COPYRIGHT AND COPYRIGHT IN THE INDIAN CONTEXT
Indian Copyright Act, 1957 has established protection regarding intellectual property for game developers and publishers as laid under Sections 13 and 14 of the Act and specifically gives:
Reproduction Rights: The right concerning reproducing or using the work in material form.
Public Performance Rights: The right concerned with public communication of works, mainly which is pertinent in the context of streaming.
Adaptation Rights: Guarded against derivative works from the original.
For streamers, copyrighted gameplay is seen to violate these rights unless any licensing agreements or other legal mechanisms grant permission. The aspects of which include-
1. Public Performance streaming Game-play
Under Section 2(ff) of the Act, “communication to the public” includes streaming video games, as the audio-visual elements of games will be made available to the public through platforms such as YouTube or Twitch. These transmissions, when done without licenses from the relevant publishers, could be infringing on public performance rights.
2. Reproduction Within In-Game Elements
These recorded game play streams capture and reproduce the property rights of copyrighted content such as visual elements, plots, and in-game music. Such reproductions, protected under Sections 14(a)(i) and (vi), are of audiovisual and musical components concerning video games.
FAIR DEALING ACCORDING TO THE INDIAN COPYRIGHT LAW
India’s fair dealing exceptions under Section 52 of the Copyright Act are narrower than the U.S. fair use doctrine for exceptions to the infringement of copyright. This provision allows:
Private Use or Research: Public act streaming hardly ever qualifies under private use.
Criticism or Review: Streaming another critical analysis or transformative commentary might bring it under exception.
Reporting Current Events: Only osmotically relevant to game streaming.
Indian law also does not specifically protect transformed creative works, that are edited or commentary-driven gameplay, and, hence, leaves most streamers without any statutory defense before the court. Streaming platforms, as applied under the Information Technology Act, of 2000, define them as intermediaries under section 79 safe harbor provisions. To be not liable, these platforms such as :
Implement Mechanisms: Notify the users of an infringement policy and take down such infringing content after receiving a takedown notice.
Act Expeditiously: Therefore, contents identified as infringing should be removed without any delay.
This protection is, however, subject to compliance with the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, which mandates the intermediaries to exercise due diligence in curating content, including enforcement of copyright.
COMPARATIVE FRAMEWORKS: GLOBE VS. INDIA
Currently, the legal framework of India’s on-game streaming is stricter when judged under international standards, especially when compared with that of the US, which has a clause for the fair use doctrine and with the progressive licensing models of the EU. The Indian Copyright Act, of 1957 does not recognize transformative use under its provisions, leaving no scope for creativity for the streamer who imagines gameplay to resemble commentary entertainment or educational content. Although Indian intermediaries benefit from safe harbor provisions under the IT Act 2000, they are not as obligated as in the EU to take out blanket licenses, leaving the creator to wade through quite complex and developer-centric EULAs. Importantly, global best practices would include transformative use, platform-level licensing, and fair revenue-sharing models. This would bring India’s legal regime much more in line with international emulation and thus promote innovation and economic opportunities for Indian gamers and streamers.
CONCLUSION
India now has a truly fragmented and developer-centric legal framework for game streaming. As a result, individual streamers feel unduly burdened as they are required to comply with several conditions. By studying the best practices prevailing around the world, India will be in a position to align its copyright regime with international standards. Such measures would not only spur creative innovations but also open up avenues for economic gain for Indian content creators in this developing field of gaming. In India, extensive reforms must be in place to legislate effectively to accommodate the growing game-streaming ecosystem. Ensuring a balance between protecting the intellectual property rights of game developers and allowing enough leeway for the creativity of the gaming community. For instance, a statutory defense of transformative use, similar to fair use in the U.S., would cover streamers creatively reinterpreting and commenting on copyrighted game content without worrying about legal action.
This change would make Indian law much more harmonized with best practices in the global arena, especially in jurisdictions like those of the U.S. and the EU, where transformed content-including gameplay modification, walkthrough, and commentaries-is very much considered user-generated content. Introducing platform-level blanket licensing like that in the EU also simplifies the whole licensing process for individual streamers. Under such an arrangement, the streaming platforms will take the responsibility of negotiating licensing agreements with game developers, thus removing the financial burden of acquiring individual permissions by most streamers.
It ensures that the creators will have access to monetization even as they allow rights holders to be fairly remunerated for the content they own. Broadening, along with these structural changes, the fair dealing provisions of India to include digital content creation, especially such as gameplay streaming, would form an environment for a more vibrant gaming community with legal protection. There would also be a fair measure of revenue sharing between game developers, streaming platforms, and content creators, which would ensure that all parties would have equitable compensation and that sustainable monetization options would be open to streamers, especially emerging creators.
FAQS
1. Am I allowed to stream my favorite video games here in India without permission from the developer?
Generally, streaming the gameplay without permission may infringe public performance and reproduction rights as per Indian copyright law unless it is expressly permitted in the end-user license agreement (EULA) of the game.
2. Does fair dealing apply to games streaming in India?
Fair dealing provisions can be a saving grace for some kinds of transformative streams that may include the element of criticism or commentary but, in general, the Indian Copyright Act does not provide scope for such defenses in comparison to global norms.
3. Would they sue YouTube for such a stream?
Such platforms qualify under Section 79 of the IT Act for safe harbor, provided they follow the conduct prescribed as intermediary guidelines-including expeditious removal of infringing content.
4. Which process does a streamer follow to get permission to earn from gameplay?
Streamers could refer EULAs or negotiate licenses with game publishers to monetize their content at the end.
5. What reforms should be there for Indian streamers?
Transformative works should get legal status, licensing frameworks should be simplified, and revenue-sharing models would be the few things required to create a healthy ecosystem in India.
