Policy for posting videos on Youtube/others

#3 - Sept. 16, 2012, 3:11 p.m.

You cannot use the monetization system for YouTube or other services. In order words, you cannot make money from our products.

YouTube will often note that someone has monetized copyright content, and they will summarily (and properly) close the videos or close the accounts of those involved. You don’t mention if you were using the monetization system, but if you were, you should close the video and re-upload without monetization, or you should disable monetization through the YouTube interface.

Now, I should say that this policy may be adjusted in some ways, in the future. We will be sure to let people know if the policies change. But at the current time, that is what is stated in the Guild Wars 2 Content Terms of Use and that is what should be observed.

#11 - Sept. 18, 2012, 4:13 p.m.

Eamil.7168:

I wager this idea is a mistake, as if you want to be technically accurate, all sites that review your game should apparently take down their videos, and all popular game players [TotalBiscuit, the Yogscast, etc.] should simply walk away from your title.

Woah, talk about reading too far into things. Review sites obviously have legal permission to record and post videos for money, and TB/Yogscast/etc. are all employed by companies like The Game Station that have agreements with numerous developers and publishers to allow for the same thing, including ArenaNet which is why TB and Yogscast were both able to post GW2 videos with ads during beta. What Gaile is saying is that unless you already have such permission – and you would know it if you did – you’re not allowed to make money off GW2 videos.

Also, this isn’t “something from SOPA.” Something from SOPA would be if the OP was slapped with thousands of dollars in fines.

Thank you for understanding. We’re not out to “punish” people for posting their videos, but like any company involved with copyright material — from this movie company to that fast-food restaurant to the other book publisher — we take reasonable efforts to protect our IP (intellectual property). Things are likely to change and more latitude is very likely to be given, but not just yet. And that is what the OP asked about and he seems fully to understand, so I think we’re good.

#12 - Sept. 19, 2012, 7:14 p.m.

And you know what? That isn’t quite the whole pictures, so I’m going to clarify a bit. (Yes, I’m necro-posting, but y’all will forgive, right? )

Technically, it’s against the current Guild Wars 2 Content Terms of Use for people to make money through such things are monetizing a Guild Wars 2 video. However, we support people sharing their experiences with our game. (Heck, we <3 people doing that!) So while we are in the position of accurately stating what the CToU says, we do not take action when fan sites support themselves via ads, and we don’t take action when the creators of fan videos place ads. Basically, we do not flag these videos.