Sony Wants To Trademark ‘Let’s Play’ Videos

Even though there’s no shortage of viral content on YouTube that rakes in hundreds of millions of views from across the globe, gaming videos are among those that pull in the most amount of traffic on the world’s largest video streaming website. The videos contain gameplay and commentary, people have actually built careers out of these videos that the community widely titles as “Let’s Play” videos, so it’s a bit concerning when Sony’s application to trademark this term gets discovered.

NeoGaf users discovered the trademark filing from Sony earlier this week, the filing describes a service for the purpose of “electronic transmission and streaming of video games via global and local computer networks.”

Basically, this means that Sony is seeking a trademark on videos that the community has already been referring to as “Let’s Play” videos for years. From the looks of it, Sony wants to claim ownership of an entertainment style that was actually created by the community of gamers and not necessarily by Sony.

Since the filing does mention “streaming of video games,” it’s likely that Sony is seeking a trademark on this term so that it can be used in the company’s ad campaigns. It may also be looking to rebrand the Twitch streaming feature on PlayStation 4.

Sony has not yet been awarded the trademark, its status is actually “non-final action,” which normally means that the application has been sent back to the company because something isn’t quite right. Despite mounting criticism online Sony has not yet commented on its decision to seek a trademark on Let’s Play videos.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Gaming
Tags: PlayStation 4, Sony, YouTube