[Update: 9:01AM PT] Have you amassed a large YouTube following and earned some sweet ad dollars by posting clips of your dazzling Halo runs? If so then prepare to have your revenue stream shut off because it seems that Microsoft isn’t down with having people profit from posting clips of its games. Digital Trends has found a clause in the company’s updated “game content usage rules” that restricts gamers from earning money from posting videos of Microsoft games. Check it out:
Microsoft grants you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use and display Game Content and to create derivative works based upon Game Content, strictly for your noncommercial and personal use.
While this doesn’t stop people from creating and posting well-edited and clever videos of Microsoft games, it does prevent them from making money on such clips. It’s a curious move. Certainly there will be some outspoken gamers — particularly in the large Halo community — that will scream at the large corporation “mistreating” its fans. Microsoft also gets free marketing from people that put together slick clips of its games. While I understand that the company wants to control and protect its properties, this seems like a bad move on several levels.
What do you think of Microsoft’s new restrictions on gameplay videos?
Update: Here’ s part of a post from the Halo forums that clarifies the new rules. According to a company rep, nothing has really changed:
The majority of everything the community makes currently is fine, as long as they are not basically running a big Halo-based business or using Halo as if the IP was its own property. That actually isn’t a change to our policy, simply a clarification and update of the dry legal language, and as we’ve mentioned, even that “new” language was actually updated months ago. We don’t have squads of lawyers waiting in the wings to go after folks making machinima, or showing off their skills in Halo. Basically it’s business as usual.
Stupid, typical, bloated, over-lawyer(ed) multinational conglomerate. They are going to spend precious money and resources chasing kids making chump change off of user-generated promotional material that will benefit both parties through mutual publicity.
Good job, Microsoft. These people give your IP (massive) free publicity and you are going to stick your lawyers on them because you can’t stand to see these insignificant worshipers make $10 off of a sweet video montage that only promotes your product.
If I had any pull in that company, I would be doing the exact opposite. I would actually CREATE a $100,000 contest the day Halo 4 comes out. The grand prize would be given to the person who creates the most awesomest Halo 4 gameplay video of campaign or multiplayer footage two weeks after the game debuts. Microsoft could pick the top ten submissions and post them online for the public to vote on them. The one with the most votes wins the cash prize! The second and third runners up could also receive lesser cash prizes, Microsoft points, or some cool Halo swag.
… and THAT’S how you run a successful business.
Class dismissed.
-M
So I guess they didn’t enforce this policy for the Red vs Blue?
The forum post says that Rooster Teeth and Machinima are in the clear.