EDIT: I posted this message in the general gaming discussion, and the mods put it here.
/EDIT
---------------------
I know many users on here have YouTube channels that feature video game footage, as do I. I saw
this video of the Happy console Gamer giving everyone an FYI of what's going on. It was a response to a video by a guy called AlphaOmegaSin who informed viewers of what's going on (I won't even link to his video... the guy makes good points, but he is such a spaz). Bayonetta videos are being targeted, and Shining Force III and Shining the Holy Ark are particularly being targeted. Some YT personality named TotalBiscuit (apparently huge, but I've never heard of him) had his "let's play" videos removed as a result. Some pickledick at Sega Japan,
Fujii_Mutsuhiro@sega.co.jp, is going around on YouTube, arbitrarily flagging these videos for copyright violation.
There is a Reddit article that covers this a bit.
A thread on a Shining Force forum shows that many of these guys' YouTube accounts are being flagged for violation, and with three flags in a row. This has caused people's channels to be suspended.
Many of these videos are just of people's faces, saying, "Hi, I'm so-and-so, and I'm a Shining Force fan!" Can Sega really copyright people's faces and voices? It is getting out of hand. YouTube user MarauderEx wrote to Sega of America about this, and they said that it is not their policy to do such things. It's still a mystery as to whether this is Sega of Japan doing this, or if it is just some grumpy rogue jerk at Sega of Japan who has been flagging these videos.
All I can say is, watch out. For the past year, I have been slowly working on a "100 import-only Saturn Videos in 10 minutes" video, similar to
this video, yet focusing on only import games, minus the techno music that everyone seems to feel obliged to put in such videos. I was going to add some footage of Shining Force III part 2, since only part 1 was released in North America. I am now going to avoid that as a result.
I will be following the developments of this story with keen interest. This is getting way out of hand, and I really don't think Sega would be so stupid as to make this a company policy.