Here's the skinny. I have a YouTube account that I have adsense enabled for. My first video put up was immediately OK'd and I am now making money off of it. But every video after that has been shut down for monetization. Meaning, I cannot collect on them.
The first difference in the videos is that the first one uploaded was a Minecraft bukkit plugin tutorial. The others are Let's Plays. They are claiming I need to submit more information about being able to make money off of the videos. The second difference is I animated an intro that is now on all of my videos. (I did all of the work)
I link them to the Terms of Use on Minecraft.net which clearly states: "You're free to do whatever you want with screenshots and videos of the game"
It is impossible to contact anyone at YouTube over this issue. I'm honestly quite frustrated. They allow you to submit additional documentation after the video is rejected for monetization. I did submit it again, this time in more detail. They never responded.
Are there any YouTubers out there? Do you have monetization or are you a partner? What do you put in your videos to prove that you are able to make money off of it?
I've never had monetization problems with my Let's Plays. I was going to copy-paste the information I put for one of them, but I can't seem to get at it or it was removed or something (they are still monetized, though...). Sorry if that isn't any help.
I basically documented it all. It looked something like this:
Intro is created by me and uses textures and sprite art also created by me. Video is of gameplay by me in Minecraft, with audio commentary also performed by me. The creators of Minecraft give explicit permission for this sort of use here: <link to the page>
Just providing a link and a short sentence is usually not enough, especially if your monetization was revoked.
Mojang have changed their terms of use for minecraft which complicates the issue further. It now basically states that with the exception of commercial use, we can do whatever we want with videos of the game. The 'commercial use' bit has been added recently, and technically, monetized videos constitutes commercial use. Could a let's play video series be considered fair use?
Read the section at the bottom called 'commercial things'. This would suggest that we are not allowed to use the word 'Minecraft' as the primary title for our videos, rather it should be included as a secondary title at the most. Just a little tip for all you youtubers - i suppose that following this might help with maintaining monetization.
Well folks. I started this topic what seems like ages ago. Here was my problem, hopefully it's helpful to you guys in some way
YouTube is switching the interface in which you can upload videos. Back in March they implemented it, they then got rid of it, but once again it is back. The new upload interface doesn't allow you to type in the information needed to prove you have a right to make money on the videos. Back in March everytime I uploaded a video and monetized it, it was denied. I was emailed that my video was disabled from monetization, but was able to click a link and send more information. That process usually takes 4-6 weeks for me.
Then they went back to the original uploading method, and I could type in my claim. No problems there!
Now they are back to the "new" upload interface. I'm having issues with one in every 4 videos or so being denied monetization.
Honestly, I think it's just because my views and subscribers are on the lower side. When you're at the bottom of the ladder, don't expect to get great customer service lol
As for rights to make money off of the video, the Terms of Use states "Other than commercial use, you're free to do whatever you want with screenshots and videos of the game, but don't just rip art resources and pass them around, that's no fun" I don't believe making YouTube videos counts as commercial use, as so many other YouTubers are making money off of it. Also, if you're commentating or doing a tutorial, that gives you rights to use the footage as fair use (I believe).
Most of my videos have a similar format. So this is what I submit to prove that I have the rights to monetize:
"The 10 second intro is animated by myself in Lightwave using textures from Minecraft.
All footage is recorded from Minecraft using FRAPS. Minecraft allows its users to do as they wish with the video and screenshots of the game. The "Terms of Use" can be found here: http://www.minecraft.net/terms. The info can be found under the subheading: "What You Can Do". The exact line is "You're free to do whatever you want with screenshots and videos of the game, but don't just rip art resources and pass them around, that's no fun."
I've had some of my videos "reviewed", usually ones with royalty free music which were properly credited and everything. Everything has always passed review. I've taken a bit of music copyright law courses in school, and being in the music industry for a while, I am knowledgeable about that side. As long as you create original content within the medium that you are legally allowed to use, anyone who has been granted monetization will be fine.
Hey guys, just so you know, Kris Jelbring just tweeted this-
"Minecraft terms of use (http://www.minecraft.net/terms) has been updated. Hopefully it's now more clear what you can/can't do with vids & screenshots."
"You may not make any other commercial use of the Minecraft Brand or Minecraft Assets for example you may not sell any merchandise that uses the Minecraft Brand or Minecraft Assets. If you upload videos of the game to video sharing and streaming sites you are however allowed to put ads on them."
This is the kind of statement we've been after! We shouldn't have any problem monetizing videos now :-)
Here's the skinny. I have a YouTube account that I have adsense enabled for. My first video put up was immediately OK'd and I am now making money off of it. But every video after that has been shut down for monetization. Meaning, I cannot collect on them.
The first difference in the videos is that the first one uploaded was a Minecraft bukkit plugin tutorial. The others are Let's Plays. They are claiming I need to submit more information about being able to make money off of the videos. The second difference is I animated an intro that is now on all of my videos. (I did all of the work)
I link them to the Terms of Use on Minecraft.net which clearly states: "You're free to do whatever you want with screenshots and videos of the game"
It is impossible to contact anyone at YouTube over this issue. I'm honestly quite frustrated. They allow you to submit additional documentation after the video is rejected for monetization. I did submit it again, this time in more detail. They never responded.
Are there any YouTubers out there? Do you have monetization or are you a partner? What do you put in your videos to prove that you are able to make money off of it?
Thanks folks!
Surely someone out there has some suggestions on how to deal with this?
http://www.youtube.com/user/ZarazabasGaming/videos
I basically documented it all. It looked something like this:
Intro is created by me and uses textures and sprite art also created by me. Video is of gameplay by me in Minecraft, with audio commentary also performed by me. The creators of Minecraft give explicit permission for this sort of use here: <link to the page>
Just providing a link and a short sentence is usually not enough, especially if your monetization was revoked.
http://www.youtube.com/user/ZarazabasGaming/videos
Read the section at the bottom called 'commercial things'. This would suggest that we are not allowed to use the word 'Minecraft' as the primary title for our videos, rather it should be included as a secondary title at the most. Just a little tip for all you youtubers - i suppose that following this might help with maintaining monetization.
http://www.youtube.com/user/ZarazabasGaming/videos
YouTube is switching the interface in which you can upload videos. Back in March they implemented it, they then got rid of it, but once again it is back. The new upload interface doesn't allow you to type in the information needed to prove you have a right to make money on the videos. Back in March everytime I uploaded a video and monetized it, it was denied. I was emailed that my video was disabled from monetization, but was able to click a link and send more information. That process usually takes 4-6 weeks for me.
Then they went back to the original uploading method, and I could type in my claim. No problems there!
Now they are back to the "new" upload interface. I'm having issues with one in every 4 videos or so being denied monetization.
Honestly, I think it's just because my views and subscribers are on the lower side. When you're at the bottom of the ladder, don't expect to get great customer service lol
As for rights to make money off of the video, the Terms of Use states "Other than commercial use, you're free to do whatever you want with screenshots and videos of the game, but don't just rip art resources and pass them around, that's no fun" I don't believe making YouTube videos counts as commercial use, as so many other YouTubers are making money off of it. Also, if you're commentating or doing a tutorial, that gives you rights to use the footage as fair use (I believe).
But anyway, my youtube channel is http://www.youtube.com/yourmcadmin
Most of my videos have a similar format. So this is what I submit to prove that I have the rights to monetize:
"Minecraft terms of use (http://www.minecraft.net/terms) has been updated. Hopefully it's now more clear what you can/can't do with vids & screenshots."
If you navigate to the brand guidelines page (http://www.minecraft.net/brand-guidelines) you will find the following -
"You may not make any other commercial use of the Minecraft Brand or Minecraft Assets for example you may not sell any merchandise that uses the Minecraft Brand or Minecraft Assets. If you upload videos of the game to video sharing and streaming sites you are however allowed to put ads on them."
This is the kind of statement we've been after! We shouldn't have any problem monetizing videos now :-)
http://www.youtube.com/user/ZarazabasGaming/videos