Monetizing walkthroughs on youtube

Pixelbastardo

Has anyone here successfully monetized their gameplay or walkthroughs on youtube, with or without commentary ?
I know in the states there a laws that leave a grey area for people to monetize their stuff if they put commentary over atleast afew minutes of their gameplay.
And i have also seen people monetize "lets plays" with or without commentary, once they get a deal with someone like machinima..

anyone here know the irish laws on all this, or have any experience with monetizing their vids ?

TheChrisD

With standard monetization, it was always a bit hit-or-miss with me. A few of my videos I was able to monetize raw, particularly Microsoft games under their Game Content Usage Rules (before their recent "clarification"), and I think I was able to get maybe one or two live-commentary games monetized. State Fair Use, especially if you do videos in games that have a clear terms of service or similar (like Minecraft).

Since partnership, there's been no hassles with claiming any of those videos, although my network maintain a policy in that all game footage must contain audio commentary to be valid for claiming.

Pixelbastardo

Cheers for the info.
Yeah, iv read that blizzard games and minecraft can be monetized without issue.. i dont play either though, iv grown bored of minecraft months ago.
Id like to do some walkthroughs without commentary, or with as little as possible. and i know for every person that likes letsplays with commentary, theres another one who likes the atmosphere of the game over someone talking and "ruining it".
Although that excuse id doubt very much would be given 2 foops by youtube ^^

Well, iv starting a new channel regardless and am uploading a walkthrough of Silenthill 2 HD, half it up already.., ill see how it goes and just leave the monetization for the minute... My old main account that iv uploaded a bunch of old irish creamfields and homelands sets, along with a bunch of vinyl, i have some self made tunes monetized on that... but i own full copyright to that so not really the same thing...

Do you know what the story is if i tryed to monetize one of the Silenthill vids to see how it goes. If it gets rejected, does youtube remove the vid or give any hassle over trying to monetize ?

Doctor DooM

If someone claims a monetized video for copyright your channel could be shut down.

Pixelbastardo

Doctor DooM wrote: »

If someone claims a monetized video for copyright your channel could be shut down.

yikes, wouldnt like that to happen... i already have maybe 16, 10 minute vids of SH2HD up,each vid took me 4 hours to upload.. wouldnt like to start over again..

I guess its best to build the channel and leave the rest for the minute...
My main music account was given a strike in march for uploading 2 short clips from fear n loathing in las vegas, i got a copyright notice and tryed to dispute it (since 100's of other accounts had clips from the same movie up)
I was then given a strike, and had to delete the clips.. the strike lasted 6 months for it, and that made it a Bi&%h to try and monetize my music...and disabled me from uploading over 15min vids...

Damn, would be nice if it was fair game for all though....

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Pixelbastardo

Cheers for the info, so are you signed to a gaming network ?. if so, is it a thing with them, once your signed, you can post almost any game and monetize it without issue. (as these game networks apparently have all the necessary licences ?)

I found a very informative thread afew months back at neogaf
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=493634

Some people in that thread who have signed deals say there a good thing, others say there a scam and not necessary.
Some people get good deals with decent percentages and that, while others seem to get worse deals.
The 3rd comment in, from a person signed with Machinima, says he monetizes his vids through them without commentary which sounds great. Although iv read that you need somewhere in the thousands of views per day for them to sign you, not sure what the deal is with that yet...
Iv also read, that people who havnt signed to a network, and start doing well, if they start making alot of cash, thats when the game publishers step in and claim all rights... with different outcomes case by case, since its such a grey area.

Im just finishing up a Silenthill 2 walkthrough on my new channel now, and maybe 5 of the vids so far have audio copyright claims, that i just have to acknowledge and do nothing else (im used to these claims on my main music channel).
I still havnt enabled monetization on my new channel yet, probably best to build it up alittle at the minute.

Do you think if i were to enable monetization on this channel and submit the vids from the sh2 walkthorugh that dont have any claims, they would get rejected without commentary?.

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Chavways

I monetise 95% of my video's and I have never had a copyright claim.But bear in mind that my channel is relatively small.80 subscribers and around 7K views per month.

TheChrisD

You may not have had any copyright claims yet, but have you ever had your monetisation disabled on any videos?

Chavways

TheChrisD wrote: »

You may not have had any copyright claims yet, but have you ever had your monetisation disabled on any videos?

Nope, haven't had that either. I select monetisation when I upload them and it usually passes the review stage within a few hours.I don't think I've ever not been allowed to monetise one either.

Pixelbastardo

Chavways wrote: »

Nope, haven't had that either. I select monetisation when I upload them and it usually passes the review stage within a few hours.I don't think I've ever not been allowed to monetise one either.

Have you ever gotten one of them copy right notices over music from the game that you just have to acknowledge ?

A SH2 walkthrough i uploaded, 12 of the vids have "copyright notices" for "matched third party content"(in game music).
On each vid with this notice theres an "acknowledge" button, when i click it i get "Acknowledged third party content", and the vids stay up (although 1 of the 10 vids is banned from viewing in germany).

Chavways, what sort of vids do you make ?, cod gameplay, walkthroughs or mantages ?, and have you tryed monetizing any vids with no commentary with success ?

Chavways

Pixelbastardo wrote: »

Have you ever gotten one of them copy right notices over music from the game that you just have to acknowledge ?

A SH2 walkthrough i uploaded, 12 of the vids have "copyright notices" for "matched third party content"(in game music).
On each vid with this notice theres an "acknowledge" button, when i click it i get "Acknowledged third party content", and the vids stay up (although 1 of the 10 vids is banned from viewing in germany).

Chavways, what sort of vids do you make ?, cod gameplay, walkthroughs or mantages ?, and have you tryed monetizing any vids with no commentary with success ?

I think I've gotten 1 or 2 notices that there's matched third party content. I try not to have music in the video's if I can.

I make mainly Gran Turismo and BF3 videos.None of them have commentary and most of them are monetised.

Pixelbastardo

Cool, i was just wondering if i needed to delete any vids with claims before enabling monetization..

Well i went ahead earlier today anyway and enabled it, out of 23 of the SH2 walkthrough vids(not including the ones with copyright claims which is another 17) that were put through for review, 9 have been moneitzed, 4 are still under review,
7 of them say "Not monetized. click to provide proof of commercial use rights".
I have a ten part Journey walkthrough up too, and most of them got flat out rejected with a couple asking for proof of commercial use rights.
And maybe an hour ago i uploaded a farcry 3 dust 2 re-creation, and it became monetized instantly =/ ??

Its funny however they go about the review process, some vids excepted while others are not .

Chavways, have you ever gotten that "Not monetized. click to provide proof of commercial use rights" ?

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Pixelbastardo

AGB_Ghost wrote: »

I get it about 20% of the time.

Have you ever managed to get one monetized after getting that message on a vid ?

Chavways

Pixelbastardo wrote: »

Cool, i was just wondering if i needed to delete any vids with claims before enabling monetization..

Well i went ahead earlier today anyway and enabled it, out of 23 of the SH2 walkthrough vids(not including the ones with copyright claims which is another 17) that were put through for review, 9 have been moneitzed, 4 are still under review,
7 of them say "Not monetized. click to provide proof of commercial use rights".
I have a ten part Journey walkthrough up too, and most of them got flat out rejected with a couple asking for proof of commercial use rights.
And maybe an hour ago i uploaded a farcry 3 dust 2 re-creation, and it became monetized instantly =/ ??

Its funny however they go about the review process, some vids excepted while others are not .

Chavways, have you ever gotten that "Not monetized. click to provide proof of commercial use rights" ?

Nope I've never gotten that. I got an email a while ago saying that one of my Saints Row 3 videos was unmonetised because it contained offensive content. Who would've known killing people with a giant dildo sword was offensive.

Pixelbastardo

lol, dildo beatdown,

So whats your secret Chavways ?, how do you get by without getting the "provide proof of commercial use rights" on any vids ^^ ?
maybe its all down to luck(or the content), do you upload short of long vids ?.. the shortest vid i up'ed was a farcry 3 map editor vid like 3mins long, and it got monetized instantly.., where as all my other vids are between 10/15 mins and all took afew hours to a day to get reviewed for monetization..

and does anyone know is it a bot that reviews the vids or actual people ?

Chavways

Pixelbastardo wrote: »

lol, dildo beatdown,

So whats your secret Chavways ?, how do you get by without getting the "provide proof of commercial use rights" on any vids ^^ ?
maybe its all down to luck(or the content), do you upload short of long vids ?.. the shortest vid i up'ed was a farcry 3 map editor vid like 3mins long, and it got monetized instantly.., where as all my other vids are between 10/15 mins and all took afew hours to a day to get reviewed for monetization..

and does anyone know is it a bot that reviews the vids or actual people ?

I thought everyone's video's were monetised as easy as mine.I must be getting lucky. Most of the mare only 2-3 minutes long so maybe that's why.

MagicSean

I get permission to monetize my Indy stuff. Things like minecraft, ftl and WoW allow monetization too. The other stuff I don't monetize. I still get the odd request for proof from YouTube but I simply reply saying I made the video myself and have permission to use the game footage.

Anything with music will likely attract a copyright claim. Music companies have software that identifies the music and claims it. Last month I uploaded a private movie of my grandmothers funeral service for family members abroad. Only four people had access to it. It was claimed by the music company who owned the rights to the hymn that was sung.

Your channel works on a reputation system. You won't get shut down for the odd mistake but continuos ones can result in your ability to monetize stuff being withdrawn permanently.

Pixelbastardo

cheers Chavways, maybe the length of the vid effects the review process in some way, idk but ill keep an eye on any more short vids i up and see if its instant monetize like last one.

@Magicsean, that sucks about the funeral vid, ridiculous!... but i know all to well about them blocking audio in different regions with my main music account.

Doctor DooM

I have been thinking about posting in this thread for a while, but I wanted to formulate my thoughts on it correctly.

There's a lot of people here giving advice on how to monetise without getting done for copyright and the like, and some of it will work, at least for some time, but I feel someone has to say: if you monetise without having the correct permissions, there is always, always a chance youtube will shut you down. the risk might be small, but it is there.

Doing any of the above is accepting a risk, unless the content is completely your own- including owning game rights- or joining a network that has those rights.

Now, the obvious network to partner with is Machinima, but, obviously, they're generally filled with the higher end of the gaming market.

The network I'm partnered with (fullscreen.net) have a low requirement sub network called creator x. With them, you are safe to do commentated game footage, I checked.

There's also yousch.com, who may be worth a look.

Partnering cuts down your profits a little but for peace of minds sake it's good.

MagicSean

Doctor DooM wrote: »

Doing any of the above is accepting a risk, unless the content is completely your own- including owning game rights- or joining a network that has those rights

Can you explain how doing it with the permission of the content owner is a risk?

Also is Lindsey Sterling on that network?

EDIT: One thing about networks, always read the contract fully.

Doctor DooM

MagicSean wrote: »

Can you explain how doing it with the permission of the content owner is a risk?

Also is Lindsey Sterling on that network?

EDIT: One thing about networks, always read the contract fully.

It can still be a bit of a risk if you have the permission of the content owner- if you are unsure they will back up up if you get claimed accidentally. I have had MLG accidentally claim me and they backed down when I pointed it out to them, thankfully. There are also malicious users on youtube who will claim someone elses video to try and get money. This is why having the support proper of the content owner (preferably in the form of a license) is important, as DMCA claims can lead to legal proceedings, and someone saying "yeah sure no prob bud" won't cut much mustard if you go to youtube with it.

The risk is minimal but it is there. I'm just trying to get people to understand that.

Also, do you have permission for everything used? All the music? Are you sure there's no additional rights for the actual writer of the music?

As for free music used, bear in mind music which is usually free is not when you're doing it for profit in general. Usually there's a specific clause about that!

Yes, Lindsey Sterling is on FS, I think.

And yes, you should always read the contract thoroughly!

CrinkElite

How much money are ye talking about here? let's say for a video with 10,000 views.

TheChrisD

Doctor DooM wrote: »

Now, the obvious network to partner with is Machinima, but, obviously, they're generally filled with the higher end of the gaming market.

Obvious choice, maybe. Very bad choice, hell yes :P

Doctor DooM wrote: »

The network I'm partnered with (fullscreen.net) have a low requirement sub network called creator x. With them, you are safe to do commentated game footage, I checked.

In addition to Creator X (part of Fullscreen, in association with VidStatsX), you could also go with TGN (part of BroadbandTV, heap of muck) or RPM (part of Maker Studios, in association with SocialBlade).

Doctor DooM wrote: »

There's also yeousch.com, who may be worth a look.

Yeousch's requirement are about as high as Machinima, unfortunately

Doctor DooM wrote: »

Partnering cuts down your profits a little but for peace of minds sake it's good.

It only cuts if you were capable of monetising everything to begin with, although there is a very good chance that the CPM you gain from a network is worth more even after the split :pac:

CrinkElite wrote: »

How much money are ye talking about here? let's say for a video with 10,000 views.

The CPM varies completely depending on time of year, location the views are coming from, and also how many of them are mobile views. Also, revenue isn't applied retroactively.

Pixelbastardo

Thanks for the info Dr.Doom.
Yeah its something to be aware of certainly, some of my vids have been excepted, less then half, and other rejected.
The whole process seems halfassed on youtubes part. The review process that is.. Same types of vids on my Silenthill2 walkthrough allowed and others not and others rejected, or asking for proof of rights.. idk, ima just leave what got excepted alone and keep adding to the channel for now.

Tea_Bag

also interested in how much money people can make.

TheChrisD, I understand it's not an easy calculation. how about a rough estimate.

let's say 70% views From US, rest from all over. 20% total from mobile. this time of year.

if that's too difficult, and if you don't mind, how much did you make on you're most recent video, and how much do you make on your best one? be as rough as you like.

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Doctor DooM

Tea_Bag wrote: »

also interested in how much money people can make.

TheChrisD, I understand it's not an easy calculation. how about a rough estimate.

let's say 70% views From US, rest from all over. 20% total from mobile. this time of year.

if that's too difficult, and if you don't mind, how much did you make on you're most recent video, and how much do you make on your best one? be as rough as you like.

Not to pre-empt Chris but most people who've signed a partnership contract are banned from discussing payouts as part of the contract... it's annoying, but it's difficult to find exact details.

AGB_Ghost wrote: »

A big time Machinima Director, who works purely on YouTube with an average view count in the hundred thousands makes a low 6 digit number. Or so Hutch said in his AMA on Reddit.

The amount of people who earn that much, though, is the tiniest fraction of the people partnered on youtube. Hutch himself also said you should never set out to survive off youtube without a back up plan.

I have also heard it can also be quite a difficult job, you spend a lot of time earning that cash. If you set out to make a living and don't love the topic you're making videos about, I think you're doomed to failure.

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Doctor DooM

AGB_Ghost wrote: »

Very true, I myself know if I get big on YouTube it will NOT become my job. A lot of people when they get big can live off of it but not in the long run of life. Even though I'm getting paid YouTube will always be my hobby, never my job. When you get older, the idea of putting up Videos in your Fourties may not sit right with you, then what? You have no job or fallback plan to go to.

Exactly the right way of looking at it in my opinion, even if you could say "yes, I will make videos for the next 20 years", who's to say youtube will exist then the way it does now, or your hobby won't die out, or any number of other things which could happen?

TheChrisD

Doctor DooM wrote: »

Not to pre-empt Chris but most people who've signed a partnership contract are banned from discussing payouts as part of the contract... it's annoying, but it's difficult to find exact details.

Precisely this. And even if I could discuss exact figures, I have particular circumstances (older videos, high for particular search terms, high US viewership, high audience retention) that would almost definitely make my CPM completely different to yours.

The facts I can give you:

• 60% of my views are monetizable
• The US has the highest raw income with the UK very far behind on views but similar CPM; Australia has the best CPM so far
• The Phillipines are fifth on my monetizeable views chart, but 28th on the income chart
• Irish ads pay next to nothing
• I haven't been around long enough for a full year to see any CPM trends, but there's been no noticeable difference over the past couple months.
• My top two videos income and retention wise are my 8-minute Bioshock 2 Gameplay Part 1 video, and my 31-minute Sims 3 Legacy Challenge Part 1 video. Bioshock gets five times the views because of good search results, but only earns double the money and double the minutes watched than my Sims 3 video.

I don't earn a terribly huge amount from this, but it's a good supplement to my income and it means I can afford to buy new games and new equipment to further improve my videos. And I can also afford to do crazy **** like this:

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TheChrisD

AGB_Ghost wrote: »

As for me in terms of payments, as I am un-partnered and on a purely Adsense account, I can't get paid until I meet a quota set by Youtube which is..... €75 or there abouts so until I make 75 euro, YouTube won't pay me.

That was the other issue with not being a partner, AdSense rates are absolutely terribad, and you have to deal with the monetization and Fair Use lark, especially bad when YouTube can just decide on a whim to turn the ads off on you.

Thankfully there are enough networks who will take on smaller channels these days which should mean ads on all your videos that won't be denied by YouTube, and hopefully enough of an income to meet a payment threshold rather quickly.

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ktulu123

In the last couple days YouTube has just disabled monetization on a few of my videos. A couple of them were under review & had all the necessary documentation & one that I uploaded yesterday was just rejected straight away without even a review process.

Anyone else having issues with this? Or even know a way to contact YouTube about it?

Doctor DooM

ktulu123 wrote: »

In the last couple days YouTube has just disabled monetization on a few of my videos. A couple of them were under review & had all the necessary documentation & one that I uploaded yesterday was just rejected straight away without even a review process.

Anyone else having issues with this? Or even know a way to contact YouTube about it?

I hear about this constantly, but I think a lot of people never get it resolved.

Another side of the partner thing- all my vids are monetisable instantly and the partner looks after all the copyright stuff.

ktulu123

Yeah would hope to get partnered some day, only just started doing the whole Youtube thing a month ago really.

Doctor DooM

ktulu123 wrote: »

Yeah would hope to get partnered some day, only just started doing the whole Youtube thing a month ago really.

Oh ok, you're new to it- when you say you have all the documentation- you have a license from the company that makes the game?

Because otherwise you don't really, see, and you'll continue to be at YT's mercy

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Chavways

AGB_Ghost wrote: »

In other News, I just got an email from Machinima.....

And??????

ktulu123

Doctor DooM wrote: »

Oh ok, you're new to it- when you say you have all the documentation- you have a license from the company that makes the game?

Because otherwise you don't really, see, and you'll continue to be at YT's mercy

Most of my videos are arma ones, so I searched the web to see if they could be monetized & found this:

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?133522-User-Monetization-of-BI-s-games-Audio-amp-Video-content%28e-g-Youtube-Partnership-Program%29

I followed all the steps in that & resubmitted some videos for monetization & they came back with: "We did not approve this video for monetisation because the content in your video and/or the metadata may not be advertiser-friendly."

Which doesn't make sense as two of them are part 1 video's(Both part two's monetized), another is a DayZ video which should of been ok. (I have another couple on there monetized)

It really seems random, I started a Namalsk Crisis play through series & uploaded episode one yesterday, which gets disabled for monetization & today I uploaded episode two which got accepted nearly straight away.

Maybe I should start all of my multi part videos on episode two :P

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Doctor DooM

AGB_Ghost wrote: »

They want me in their partner program. I accepted.

Congrats! Your channel must be doing well make sure to read the small print before you sign.

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Doctor DooM

AGB_Ghost wrote: »

I did, it's a pretty hefty contract but I can't talk about it's actual contents, since that's pretty much against the contract. I wouldn't say I'm doing well, but many programs will not take you on board with less than 500 subs. :P

I didn't want details, I just know there's been trouble over Machinima's terms (to the point where the video game specialist lawyer and well known Fighting Game player UltraDavid/David Graham was talking about taking an action against them representing some ex partners) but I would suspect they've changed that now such was the bad pr!

Yeah, I was about 500 subs when I got partnered

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ktulu123

Only 418 to go :P

Sabre0001

If people are thinking about partnerships, etc, make sure you read the fine print. Even the likes of KSI and RayWilliamJohnson haven't had a completely trouble-free run with their networks (then again, their content would be of more value for partner to own) - http://www.laweekly.com/2013-01-10/news/machinima-maker-studios-YouTube/full/

With regards to monetising something as a non-partner; sometimes it works, but don't be surprised if it gets rejected / if monetisation is later removed.

Finally, always keep an eye on your channel status (settings >> Features). It not being in 'Good Standing' under any of the three categories could result in it being more difficult if you apply for partnership.

TheChrisD

Doctor DooM wrote: »

I didn't want details, I just know there's been trouble over Machinima's terms (to the point where the video game specialist lawyer and well known Fighting Game player UltraDavid/David Graham was talking about taking an action against them representing some ex partners) but I would suspect they've changed that now such was the bad pr!

I recall Ken Burton made a video recently detailing how Machinima were in the process of changing all their existing partners over to a new contract with a specific length of time (3-year lockin being the most common), as well as Machinima starting to take on new people with less views/subs into a rev. share contract instead of their usual fixed CPM.

But yes, I will echo Doom and say to ensure you fully read the contract. Especially look out for your contract length, the rev/share or fixed CPM, whether or not Machinima gain creative rights to your videos (either full or partial, and also whether it's only while you're with them or whether it's permanent), and any terms of cancellation (do you have any get-out clause, does the contract auto-renew, do you have to give x days notice).