New development. The guy from the park has offered me a small amount for royalties so that he can download the video and clip it together to suit the experience, I have refused this amount and he is now insinuating that he would use it anyway claiming that it is open source. He did close off his email by asking what would be a reasonable price and saying that they would “otherwise use other clips” but I just want to know where I stand. Does anyone have any input on this? Does the standard YouTube license protect me?
Well, you are the original creator, you uploaded it on youtube, its your work, you have the project files, you have all the mails as a proof that they contacted you with the intention to acquire your work/services…i would say it looks good for you ( not a lawyer so what do i know?) The standard Youtube license allows this clip to be shown on the whole youtube network, but except for that you still have the copyright. Since you are not an US citizen you don’t have to register your copyright ,and since European Copyright laws are minimal less insane than American ones you are minimally better protected. If they use your work you sue them for damage which is your ideal price x2. Do you have a Lawyer? Talk to him/her! If these “customers” want to play foul, show them no mercy!
I’m not sure you what you mean by insinuating, but why would the clip be “open source”? If they’re really ill-informed enough to use your copyrighted material without permission in a commercial context, you should talk to a lawyer. Sueing may or may not be profitable, depending on how such cases are handled in your jurisdiction.
He did close off his email by asking what would be a reasonable price and saying that they would “otherwise use other clips” but I just want to know where I stand. Does anyone have any input on this? Does the standard YouTube license protect me?
Citing the Youtube Terms of Service (to which they agreed as well):
5. General restrictions on use
[…]
L. you agree not to access Content or any reason other than your personal, non-commercial use solely as intended through and permitted by the normal functionality of the Service, and solely for Streaming. “Streaming” means a contemporaneous digital transmission of the material by YouTube via the Internet to a user operated Internet enabled device in such a manner that the data is intended for real-time viewing and not intended to be downloaded (either permanently or temporarily), copied, stored, or redistributed by the user.
M. You shall not copy, reproduce, distribute, transmit, broadcast, display, sell, license, or otherwise exploit any Content for any other purposes without the prior written consent of YouTube or the respective licensors of the Content.
I think I panicked a bit when he mentioned the whole “open source” thing and that he was “only doing the honourable thing” by offering me money. In the end I actually gave him a counter offer which he accepted, I came to the conclusion that I could make more money by doing this than I would out of any ad revenue from the video. I considered that because I had the file built in layers and open exr format I could very easily strip out the hands and map etc and re-render from the VSE in a very short time and they could then re-cut the video files to fit the experience, I also am leaving the original video on my channel. I will be producing the files this week and he has already offered to transfer the money in advance. Also he has organised tickets for my whole family to bring my nephews along and experience the whole thing. I understand that they could be getting a very good deal out of me but sometimes you can overvalue yourself and not make any money, especially considering I’m not going to have to do anything.