Not eligible for monetization, no copyright notice however

[velocity]

I've had a video up for a few weeks and it's been monetized. I noticed in the last hour it's changed to 'not eligible for monetization' however there is no copyright notice at all for it at all an I have no real reason to believe there should be.

It's the video on my channel called 'Gaming Origins - Guerrila Games'

 

[UKHypnotist]

Do the games involved have violent content? That would be one reason for the "not eligible" designation. Have you used the feedback form in your video manager to ask for a human to review the video for advertiser-friendliness? This has nothing to do with copyright whatsoever.

Addendum: I need to correct that last statement. You have a lot of trademarked logos and product package photo captures in your video.Do you have permission to use those from the owners? Plus that in and of itself may turn advertisers off, as the other products may distract from their own ad content.

 

[velocity]

Do the games involved have violent content? That would be one reason for the "not eligible" designation. Have you used the feedback form in your video manager to ask for a human to review the video for advertiser-friendliness? This has nothing to do with copyright whatsoever.

Addendum: I need to correct that last statement. You have a lot of trademarked logos and product package photo captures in your video.Do you have permission to use those from the owners? Plus that in and of itself may turn advertisers off, as the other products may distract from their own ad content.

Well no, there is part of shooting game in the background for 20 seconds and that's it but that's the same as literally video game related video out there so I don't see how that would be an issue.

I see no issue with using various images on the topic of what I'm talking about, literally every YouTuber out there does so. Look at similar channels The Game Theorist, Gameranx or all the other millions of gaming history videos out there who do exactly what I do. I have already used the help feature to see what I can do, I don't know if I will receive a reply or not.

I get the impression you're not familiar with video game content on YouTube and the norms within those types of videos.

 

[UKHypnotist]

Game content? Yes. Norms? Not sure about those, as what I normally see is Let's Plays, not developer histories. All I know is that for YouTube monetized use, the Help Guide says this about all content you yourself don't own:

"Clear the rights to use and monetise this content on YouTube."

also...

"Make sure that you own all the necessary rights to commercially use all visuals created by you."

So since you obviously could not be the trademark/copyright owner of the company logos and game package images I see displayed in your videos I must ask if you have actually approached the companies in question and cleared the rights to use those images and logos in your monetized videos? If you haven't, YouTube may suspect this; and may have disabled monetization on those grounds.

As YouTube itself says..."Just because you see other creators doing it and getting away with it doesn't mean what you are doing isn't against the rules".

 

[velocity]

Game content? Yes. Norms? Not sure about those, as what I normally see is Let's Plays, not developer histories. All I know is that for YouTube monetized use, the Help Guide says this about all content you yourself don't own:

"Clear the rights to use and monetise this content on YouTube."

also...

"Make sure that you own all the necessary rights to commercially use all visuals created by you."

So since you obviously could not be the trademark/copyright owner of the company logos and game package images I see displayed in your videos I must ask if you have actually approached the companies in question and cleared the rights to use those images and logos in your monetized videos? If you haven't, YouTube may suspect this; and may have disabled monetization on those grounds.

As YouTube itself says..."Just because you see other creators doing it and getting away with it doesn't mean what you are doing isn't against the rules".

As we've already established the lack of monetization doesn't appear to be due to copy right.

A large, large portion of video game videos on YouTube aren't lets plays, that's one sub category of a number of different types. It's not just 'developer history' videos that use gaming imagery in their videos, not even close. Informative gaming is pretty big and thus requires using images and / or various types of videos (which are more restrictive on their use) to reference during discussion. There's obviously the arguement of fair use as well. 90% of react videos use footage and various material under fair use.

I cannot express the quantity of videos, from small and large channels that to some extent use some kind of 'copyrighted imagery' in a video game video , even if it's as simple as an Xbox logo when referencing Xbox that they wouldn't have specifically requested from MS to use. If they all fell outside fair use these large channels that garner millions of views of wouldn't be able to continue. We aren't talking about a couple of obscure tiny videos that have fell under the radar. Did You Know Gaming (3 million subs) is a great example, it's not possible for them to get consent for all the material they use and they use just as much as me in terms of gaming images.

With all that said, there's no way I could create the content I do without such imagery so right, wrong whatever I either continue or stop altogether.

 

[UKHypnotist]

I know you couldn't do it without that. The question isn't about copyright at all. I think you are trying to sidestep the real question, which is Commercial Use Rights, rather than copyright. They are two different but related areas.

So I ask you a direct question: Did you contact every company whose game images and logos you used, and clear (This means in your case, ask for and pay any licensing fees required for) the rights to use the material commercially (this means that you have monetized and plan to earn money from the material) in your YouTube video?

There are only three possible answers: Yes, Some, but not all, or No.

 

[velocity]

I know you couldn't do it without that. The question isn't about copyright at all. I think you are trying to sidestep the real question, which is Commercial Use Rights, rather than copyright. They are two different areas.

So I ask you again a direct question: Did you contact every company whose game images and logos you used, and clear (This means in your case, ask for and pay any licensing fees required for) the rights to use the material commercially (this means that you have monetized and plan to earn money from) in your YouTube video?

There are only two possible answers: Yes, or No.

I didn't honestly think that question needed answering, I thought it was blatantly obvious what the answer was by what I was saying without needing to be spelled out. So to be absolutely direct, obviously being a small channel doing videos on various topics on gaming each week, no I of course haven't be able to contact massive companies and get permission to use images from them and I doubt small channels of my size would even get a reply and I think you know that's the answer without me needing me to say it.

My point in the last post is that 90% of large channels in informative gaming on YouTube do not seek or get permission to using images from companies and monetize their content without issue. A lot of uses of material will fall under fair use and don't need requested permission. For example if I want to talk about a famous person that has just died, it's perfectly within the rights of fair use to use an image of them in a video, I don't have to go seeking permission to use that image.

You have an incredibly condescending way of talking to people, just saying.

 

[UKHypnotist]

You have an incredibly condescending way of talking to people, just saying.

I only become "condescending", when the person I am debating insists on being an apologist.
You keep referring to copyright; however: copyright and commercial usage rights are two different things.

Since you also insist on forcing me to spell things out to you, the most likely reason that your video has been declared ineligible for monetization, isn't copyright, but the fact that YouTube knows that you didn't ask for, and/or properly license the rights to use the proprietary material in your videos in an effort to make money. The Fair Use Doctrine can only be decided in a court of law; however YouTube Admin, after a creator won a Fair Use contest in court, has graciously decided to allow for Fair Use in some cases.

Monetization would be one of the factors actually counting against a decision of Fair Use in a court of law.

It doesn't matter at all that others are doing it and getting away with it. The simple fact here is that YouTube admin has apparently decided not to let you get away with it!

Did you ever hear back on your feedback form, by the way?

 

[velocity]

I only become "condescending", when the person I am debating insists on being an apologist.
You keep referring to copyright; however: copyright and commercial usage rights are two different things.

Since you also insist on forcing me to spell things out to you, the most likely reason that your video has been declared ineligible for monetization, isn't copyright, but the fact that YouTube knows that you didn't ask for, and/or properly license the rights to use the proprietary material in your videos in an effort to make money.

You're condescending because I didn't just automatically agree with what you were saying, whether you're right or completely wrong.

I didn't need you to spell anything out, unlike you I understood what you were insinuating from the get go, I just didn't agree. I actually doubt that's the reason however I'm sure I'll find out soon enough when YouTube reply, hopefully they're a little more approachable.

If virtually every single large informative gaming channel (and other types of gaming channels) can use various imagery without permission and monetize their content fine then so should I and I'll take the risk

Anyway, I think I've discussed this issue enough now thank you for your help

EDIT: I only sent the feedback form off 24 hours ago so no I haven't heard back yet and no cause has been determined thus far.

 

[UKHypnotist]

You're welcome; even though you need to look up the defintion of what you are accusing me of.

Condescending: "having or showing an attitude of patronizing superiority.
"she thought the teachers were arrogant and condescending" "

Problem here is, I didn't feel at all "superior"; just frustrated that you wished to create your own reality and hope it became real for you in truth at day's end. I also have discussed enough, and I wish you well with that channel.