Video Game Content Permissions

[Michael Guinn]

A big question for video game YouTube channels is "Can I monetize my gameplay video?"

Most replies are vague and fall into some category of "fair use", others say to join a gaming network with licenses.

An article was written by Alloy Seven who did some research on different game companies which either allow or will not allow commercial use/monetization of content from their video games.

This article (with list of game companies) can be found at their website
Alloy Seven > Channels > Gaming> "How to monetize gaming videos legally"

While some companies have permissions stated on their website others may require you to contact them directly before given permission.

Whether partnered or not it is always best to contact a game company yourself and ask directly for permissions to monetize videos using content from a game they created. Having personalized permission is much better than generalized. Especially when generally posted terms/permissions may be changed at any time.

*I am in no way connected to Alloy Seven or their research, I am merely sharing information. Some parts of the article show that the person sending the request was granted permission this may not be the same for "everyone".

**Please note that uploading video game content is of your own risk without proper permissions and game companies reserve the right to change their terms and may deny permissions of their own accord.

 

[Northflame]

Thank you this is very helpful I have been trying to do research on this for awhile. You just helped me out a lot and saved me a ton of time!

 

[Tonio]

A big question for video game YouTube channels is "Can I monetize my gameplay video?"

Most replies are vague and fall into some category of "fair use", others say to join a gaming network with licenses.

An article was written by Alloy Seven who did some research on different game companies which either allow or will not allow commercial use/monetization of content from their video games.

This article (with list of game companies) can be found at their website
Alloy Seven > Channels > Gaming> "How to monetize gaming videos legally"

While some companies have permissions stated on their website others may require you to contact them directly before given permission.

Whether partnered or not it is always best to contact a game company yourself and ask directly for permissions to monetize videos using content from a game they created. Having personalized permission is much better than generalized. Especially when generally posted terms/permissions may be changed at any time.

*I am in no way connected to Alloy Seven or their research, I am merely sharing information. Some parts of the article show that the person sending the request was granted permission this may not be the same for "everyone".

**Please note that uploading video game content is of your own risk without proper permissions and game companies reserve the right to change their terms and may deny permissions of their own accord.

I am very familar on what you are talking about and i totally agree with this post but i checked out the channel Alloy seven and i had to give a sub and i want to do video gameplay on my channel but at the same time it's like damn i just want the proper permission and rules on how to do it properly fully to avoid copyright and even high FEES if sued!!

 

[Michael Guinn]

Thank you this is very helpful I have been trying to do research on this for awhile. You just helped me out a lot and saved me a ton of time!

I was looking into it too and had actually sent a few emails to companies before finding the site. I'm still waiting to hear back from them, before I can give any personal experience into how easy/difficult it will be to get permission.

I am very familar on what you are talking about and i totally agree with this post but i checked out the channel Alloy seven and i had to give a sub and i want to do video gameplay on my channel but at the same time it's like damn i just want the proper permission and rules on how to do it properly fully to avoid copyright and even high FEES if sued!!

I think the chances of being sued are low (unless you use actual copyrighted material) But having adsense disabled or your channel shut down is more likely. It's always better to ride on the side of caution and get the important stuff out of the way even if it involves more work to do.

 

[Zevik140]

Contacting game companies directly is a waste of time mostly. Before entering the network, I have tried to contact several companies, but most of them even didn't reply to me, while one of them simply rejected to upload and monetize their gaming content. The big advantage of the known gaming network is that it has many gaming licenses for their partners to upload and monetize gaming content with cutscenes even without putting voice commentaries inside.

 

[Benjamin]

So in general even if you're partnered there are certain games you can't upload.

 

[Michael Guinn]

So in general even if you're partnered there are certain games you can't upload.

Well there are certain games you can't upload without the risk of copyright violation. For instance Capcom enforces copyright on (I would assume) all their games. You can upload it, but it will more than likely get a content ID match, at which point you take the risk of either leaving it uploaded and potentially getting a copyright strike or taking it down and staying safe.

I don't know the likelihood of Capcom actually issuing a strike instead of just placing ads on your video, but no matter what they could change their mind later. I know nothing of any networks which may have licenses to use any games from Capcom.

For the most part game companies don't mind because it's free advertising.

Epic Games has a section under their "fan art" policy which states. "As an exception to this policy, fans are permitted to monetize web videos (such as YouTube) with advertisements, so long as those videos otherwise meet the requirements of this policy."

I would review their policy to make sure you are abiding by those guidelines if you decide to use their games. They also have a disclaimer you can copy and paste.

The big advantage of the known gaming network is that it has many gaming licenses for their partners to upload and monetize gaming content with cutscenes even without putting voice commentaries inside.

The bigger problem is most networks gaming and not send a message saying "gaming licenses are not required" and to not include cutscenes and you should be fine. I messaged N4G who replied saying they have two gaming licenses. I would not consider that very many.

(I did not state which two licenses because I'm not sure if it is allowed) If someone who knows whether or not that information may be shared (like shane) and mentions so, then I will say. Otherwise if you email N4G and ask they got back to me the next day.

 

[phoenixblue]

I'm probably completely wrong on this, but I thought I remembered Shane saying before that most networks (like Fullscreen and TGN) don't even have any game licenses and that machinima only has 2 small ones. Most networks let you monetize on the basis of fair use but they don't actually have any game licenses and don't really have actual permission to let you monetize games.

 

[Benjamin]

I'm probably completely wrong on this, but I thought I remembered Shane saying before that most networks (like Fullscreen and TGN) don't even have any game licenses and that machinima only has 2 small ones. Most networks let you monetize on the basis of fair use but they don't actually have any game licenses and don't really have actual permission to let you monetize games.

If that's the case then I don't see why so many "blinded-by-money" people are doing this cause there's no point in uploading 500 videos and only being able to monetize 20. At least not for those who want money.