Hey, creators. This one is for you! We’ve seen some confusion around using IP in creations and our approach to moderating this content, so we’re sharing this blog post to clarify things.
Creator Code of Conduct
Our Creator Code of Conduct (CCoC) states under “Intellectual Property & Content Integrity”:
ii. Owners are responsible for securing permission to use any content, thumbnails, or metadata for their content that is not their original work.
iii. Content must not infringe, misappropriate, or violate a third party’s intellectual property rights, or rights of publicity or privacy.
So, this means intellectual property can be used in creations as long as you have permission from the rights holder.
Creator Responsibility
It is your responsibility as a creator to ensure that you can use someone else’s intellectual property in your creations.Every rights holder is different when it comes to the use of their IP. Some rights holders are okay with their IP being used in almost any capacity, while others are more strict. Generally, you can view the rights holders’ Terms of Service or Fan Content Policy (if they have one) to determine if and how you can use their IP.
If you are not using IP in accordance with the rights holder’s terms, your content is subject to being removed by the rights holder.
Our Stance on IP Usage
It’s impossible for us to know the rules and limitations around every IP that exists in the world - this is why it’s the creator’s responsibility to perform those checks.The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) gives rights holders the power to submit takedown requests against content that violates their rights. If we receive a DMCA takedown request against a piece of content, we will expeditiously remove it from the platform. We may also choose to remove related content.
Since IP usage is a complex topic, we are not likely to feature content that’s focused around an IP. Additionally, your content is unlikely to be approved for the Nintendo Switch™ platform so that we comply with platform policies.
Summary
We hope this helps clarify how and when you can use IP in Rec Room. We take a similar approach to other UGC platforms (e.g. YouTube, TikTok, Roblox, Fortnite, VRChat) when it comes to IP use. The rules vary around every IP, so creators should make sure they understand if they are allowed to use a certain IP to avoid potential takedowns.Feel free to share this with others whenever this topic arises in conversation!