GTA 5 PC Footage Gets Copyright Strike From Take-Two Interactive

PC gamers have been clamoring for GTA V on PC. So whenever someone says that they have new footage of a game for a certain system and it's exclusive and shady and all that jazz, we usually all roll our eyes and look the other way. However, when a company positions themselves to protect the content of the footage, it adds a certain level of gravitas to the situation.

Junkie Monkeys first reported on the video from YouTube user warrockteam1, a guy who has done some modding in GTA IV and other games. How he managed to get his hands on the video? No one knows. However, he posted up a video several hours ago of alleged leaked footage of the PC version of Grand Theft Auto V – that most people believed was fake. Sadly, before I could get around to watching the video, it was taken down. It wasn't just taken down, it was hit with a copyright strike from Take-Two Interactive, or as it's showcased in the video, Take 2 Games.

In case the video screen of the strike is no longer visible, here's a snapshot of the video below.

A couple of things help weigh it on the side of being real:

1.) There's no reason Rockstar's legal team would have Take-Two get involved to copyright strike a fake video. People have posted plenty of fake GTA V PC videos over the past couple of years and it's a waste of Take-Two's legal team's time and a waste of their money to even put the hounds on a fake video.

2.) The name of the video is IMG_0373.mp4. It seems weird that someone trying to promote a fake GTA V PC video would name it something that would never show up on the YouTube search filters.

Of course, though, the main thing we can't ignore is that the video was taken down, and the only reason Take-Two ever takes anything down is when they feel it's a threat to their copyrighted materials. Back when we were trying to post the leaked configuration data of the PC/PS4 build of GTA V Rockstar and Take-Two had their legal team hit us with a copyright infringement fine of $250,000 if we didn't remove the images of the game code for PC and PS4. The most basic question is: if it's fake why would they want it removed?

It's not like Rockstar or Take-Two lifted a finger against the fake GTA V PC countdown site, or the fake GTA: City of Paradise hoax, so why would they start lifting fingers for other alleged fake material? Unless of course, the material isn't fake.

Of course, we can't know for sure, but rumors have been circulating from multiple sources that a PC version of GTA V is set to release sometime in March, as reported by Gamesided. Now that kind of news I take with a grain of salt. The video getting marked by the legal team of Take-Two seems far less salty.