Stream Sniping

 STREAM SNIPING

What is Stream Sniping

Digital platforms have introduced new artists to the field of entertainment, particularly streamers who play online video games and broadcast their gameplay on platforms like YouTube and Twitch.[1] These games are played by streamers from around the world, live.[2] It is important to focus on the concept of streaming, with its key trait being live interaction between the streamers and their audience with their possible offences like stream sniping.[3]

Step by step, we begin with streaming. Streaming is a live event broadcasted to an audience over an internet platform.[4] Nowadays, there are various types of streams, ranging from live chefs demonstrating how to prepare complex recipes to gamers showcasing their gaming skills while playing. Such content is accessible to the audience through digital platforms, which aggregate the content created by streamers and make it available for interaction with their audience. It's akin to an artist performing a live show but on a digital platform.

Video Game Streaming and its Vulnerabilities

Now that we understand streaming, video game streaming introduces a different concept. While streamers themselves do not create their art pieces or develop video games, their streams are considered a protected form of art under the intellectual property regime.

It is well understood that certain contents within a video game, such as its music and characters, have copyright protection. There are numerous resources dedicated to defending computer programs and extending the protection of video game streams under fair use. However, this article focuses on the offensive tactic known as stream sniping. Stream sniping is an action where live streams of streamers are intentionally disrupted. For example, in the game PUBG, a battle royale, the location of players and the weapons they carry play a crucial role for other players striving to win. This concept applies to every online multiplayer game across various devices, making it vulnerable to multiple stakeholders. In a crispy and sizzling sentence, stream sniping may violate the rights of artists under the Copyright Act. In this article, we provide a step-by-step analysis to underscore the importance of protecting our streamer friends and their art forms.

On-Ground Virtual Reality:

Have you ever witnessed an artist being slapped during a live show?[5] Protection against such incidents is provided by criminal laws, which enforce punishment through fines or imprisonment. However, in the case of live streams on digital platforms where such performances are affected, restrictions are imposed by the respective platforms. While slapping violates the basic principles of criminal law, video game streamers face challenges towards their professional/competitive games from these stream snipers.[6] Streamers lose revenue from stream sniping[7] and hence such problems are more serious than to be covered by the policies of such platforms. They can be subject to the conditions under the IP regime, which we will apply using a legal stance. 

 Now we will see how such streamers in India can be protected under the Indian IP Regime. 

Factual Situation (Current streamer’s problem)

We take a recent example between renewed streamers Tarik and Wardell from USA streaming an online competitive game Valorant.[8] The facts are simple, in a team game of 5vs5, one member was watching a stream of a famous player from the other team. During the game, he shared the information gathered from his stream with the other players, which ruined the experience of the streamer and his viewers. 

Legal Analysis:

Video game streamers engage in a distinct form of artistic expression, diverging from the conventional experience offered by video games. These games provide players with a toolkit to craft their art, akin to sports where participants compete in virtual environments, mirroring the dynamics of traditional fields like football or basketball. Thus, such video game streams form a different expression of art performed by an individual, creating a separate piece of art that is different from the performers.[9] Matching the levels of originality, uniqueness and artistic elements of an artist, they should be protected.  They qualify as work to be considered under the ambit of work of an author in relation to an artistic work other than a photograph, the artist.[10] Their work when recognised as copyrighted, will come within the ambit of Section 14 granting rights in the case of an artistic work:[11]

(i)             Right to Reproduce:

(ii)           Right to Communicate to the public: 

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[1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/746173/monthly-active-streamers-on-twitch/

[2] https://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/streaming-video-games

[3] https://www.pocket-lint.com/what-is-stream-sniping/

[4] https://www.verizon.com/articles/internet-essentials/streaming-definition/

[5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOaVmiF1y8A

[6] https://www.youtube.com/watch?embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fsteamcommunity.com%2F&source_ve_path=MTM5MTE3LDEzOTExNywyODY2NCwxNjQ1MDM&feature=emb_share&v=rHTXDQJIzic

[7] https://dreams.quest/post/what-is-stream-sniping-and-is-it-a-problem#:~:text=Stream%20sniping%20is%20a%20significant,miss%20out%20on%20prize%20money.

[8] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJffpLKzkqs

[9] https://rmlnlulawreview.com/live-streaming-of-video-games-demystifying-the-legal-identity-of-the-game-streamer-under-copyright-regime/

[10] 2(d)(iii) of the Indian Copyright Act, 1957. 

[11] Section 14 (c) of the Indian Copyright Act, 1957.