That's what Machinima have done with Microsoft properties for the machinima they create and what Amazon are now doing to allow the retail of fan fics, so I can get behind that argument.
Why do you think watching a video game with no sense of autonomy is different to watching the interior of a car with no sense of autonomy? I don't see the difference.
I also disagree with your implication that an LP is "someone else's work". Yes, I agree it's utilising the same IP and even the same art assets, but it's a derivative work - just like a fan fiction. The game publisher doesn't own the choices a player makes within their game.
We've already explained this. The visual, audio and other elements of a game that you don't have to obtain by playing it (AKA, >ALL< but the immersion) are being broadcast to the entire world. The only other reason one would have to buy the game is to play it for themselves if they wanted to. Your car example is bad because the interior of the car doesn't even make it drive-able. What makes it drive-able is the control and what's under the hood. What makes a game playable for most people? Well, you have the graphical whores, the people who are just in it for the story, the people who like the soundtrack, the people who want to experience the story firsthand, and many other groups. You satisfy all but those who want to play it for themselves.
People keep trying to use the "Players make the game, and don't perform EVERY possible action at every pixel" argument, which is really ignorant. It's just like saying "because I recorded a video of me reading an entire book, but skipping every 5th page, I should be able to sell that." You're STILL broadcasting a large portion of the contents of something someone would otherwise have to PAY TO SEE, READ, AND EXPERIENCE FOR THEMSELVES for free. The act of doing something like that in itself is already a gray area, but once you try to make money off of it, you've already put yourself in a legal headlock. Whatever comes your way, you brought upon your self.
Of course this still isn't enough for most people. They think they're entitled to everything they pay for in ALL aspects, which isn't true. Just because you buy a game or something else, that doesn't give you commercial rights to that product. I see this argument all over the place: "I bought the game, so I should be able to record things about it and sell it," which is also ignorant about commercial usage laws and rights. The only thing you pay for when you buy a product is the right of access and usage, NOT the right to commercially distribute it.
Edited by Koh, 27 May 2013 - 06:48 AM.
