Thumbnail Legality?

[WillyPapafry]

So if I take an image from a website of a game, such as the concept art and edit it in photoshop and use it as a thumbnail for a series do I have to give attribution and if so how would I go about that, btw I monetize my videos hence why I am asking

 

[WolfWraith]

I would avoid using concept art as it's usually something from the design process of the game and can even be copyrighted by third parties or artists. A screenshot of the game from the developers website should be fine as it's a screenshot of the game, although you don't want something misleading, always double check if they have a press kit too, sometimes they include logos, screenshots and images for use that can make creating thumbnails a little easier. If you're not sure of whether to use the art or not, contact the developers. They are the only 1s who know who the copyrights of the concept art belongs to.

 

[WillyPapafry]

ok thank you very much!

 

[Luceroboy]

Technically anything you use that is not under free use you cannot use, but look at all the thumbnails you see around youtube. Many of them contain images that are copyrighted/licensed. Using a screenshot from a game also counts as using copyrighted material. It gets even more problematic when you monetize your video because you're indirectly profiting from an image that is not yours.

In the end no one really cares and it's extremely difficult to police. If people with millions of subs are doing it and still are you should be good.

Just a few rules I like to go by:

Never use screensavers, desktops, or backgrounds. They are often free to obtain, but modifying them or using them as your own is usually against copyright. (psh like that matters)

If you can google the image you need under commercial use with modification. (even images you find under this filter are not entirely free use)

Always edit your thumbnail as much as possible.

No one cares so just put w/e you want lol.

I was really wondering about copyright laws and free use regarding thumbnails and I did some research on it. In the end it's a whole bunch of gray and no one has gotten in trouble for it... yet...

 

[JohnnyFox]

So if I take an image from a website of a game, such as the concept art and edit it in photoshop and use it as a thumbnail for a series do I have to give attribution and if so how would I go about that, btw I monetize my videos hence why I am asking

Never really thought about it. I just do whatever I feel. Havent had any copyright strikes about it. I think it's more music that they take offense to really.