Content Usage Guidelines

Content Usage Guidelines - Rooster Teeth IP

These guidelines (“Guidelines”) cover some of the most popular questions about how and when our fans in the RT Community can use Rooster Teeth intellectual property (“Rooster Teeth IP”) to make cool stuff of their own.

What is Rooster Teeth IP?
Rooster Teeth IP includes (but isn’t limited to) the shows, pictures, logos, animations, characters, graphics, files, music, sound, text and other materials on the Rooster Teeth website (“Website”) and the Website itself. (“Content” submitted by fans to the Website is separate – see our Terms of Use.) All Rooster Teeth IP is owned by Rooster Teeth, its affiliates and/or their licensors, unless explicitly identified as third party content on the Website.

Can I use Rooster Teeth IP?
If your use is personal and free, and it follows these Guidelines, then generally yes.

Important:
We reserve the right to restrict your use of Rooster Teeth IP at any time, for any reason or no reason, including when we think your use in inappropriate or just bad (and we’ll make that call in our sole discretion). If this happens, you must immediately stop using and distributing Rooster Teeth IP – no ifs, ands, or buts.

Guidelines
Generally, Rooster Teeth IP can be used, downloaded or copied by fans in a project (“Fan Project”) as follows:

If your Fan Project is for your own personal purposes (i.e., to comment, praise, even tear apart).The use is non-commercial. Not-for-profit. In other words, FREE. This means you must be allowing others to view, download, access or use your Fan Project for FREE. Requiring payments, surveys, downloads or other actions to access your Fan Project is not permitted. This also means you can’t license or resell your Fan Project to any third parties for any type of payment – you must always allow others (including Rooster Teeth) to re-use your Fan Project for their own purposes for FREE without needing to obtain your approval or give you credit.

You can’t remove or modify any copyright notices, names, logos or other notices in the Rooster Teeth IP when you incorporate in your Fan Project. After all, it’s our IP, so don’t mess with these.

You can’t give any impression or idea that your Fan Project is endorsed or sponsored by Rooster Teeth in any way. You’re completely on your own. This means that your Fan Project should include the following notice that’s easy to see (such as in the YouTube description box or on the website page where your project is available): This is not endorsed by Rooster Teeth in any way. Views, opinions, thoughts are all my own. Rooster Teeth and [name of Rooster Teeth show/character/etc.] are trade names or registered trademarks of Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC. © Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC.

If your Fan Project is available on a platform that pays ad revenue or otherwise allows you to monetize, we may in our sole discretion ask the platform to pay Rooster Teeth or decide to share the revenue with you. We’ll tackle this on a case-by-case and platform-by-platform basis.

Respect other party’s intellectual property. If you don’t have the rights to use a third party’s IP in your Fan Project, don’t use it. If we find out that your Fan Project is using a third party’s IP without permission, we may require you to take it down, pronto.

Don’t pull us into any legal tangles – our lawyers are busy enough. If Rooster Teeth, our partners, affiliates and employees get hit with any legal claims, fees or expenses related to your Fan Project, you’re responsible for paying all of our costs (including attorney’s fees) and any resulting judgment or settlement.

One more thing. Your use of Rooster Teeth IP at all times must also comply with the Rooster Teeth Terms of Use and Privacy Policy (together, the “Rooster Teeth Terms”). If there’s a conflict between anything in these Guidelines and FAQs and the Rooster Teeth Terms, the Rooster Teeth Terms will control and win every time.

If you need our advance written approval to use Rooster Teeth IP, or have any questions, contact us at fanprojects@roosterteeth.com with all the details of your Fan Project and intended use. We’ll reply back as soon as we can. Note that a lack of a reply from us is not advance written approval for any use of Rooster Teeth IP. It probably just means your question is covered by these Guidelines or the Rooster Teeth Terms.

Have fun!

----------------------------------------------------- Frequently Asked Questions

What is Rooster Teeth intellectual property (IP)?
Rooster Teeth IP includes (but isn’t limited to) the shows, pictures, logos, animations, characters, graphics, files, music, sound, text, and other materials on the Rooster Teeth website, on our YouTube channel, Facebook pages, Twitter pages, and any other place where our content is distributed.

May I make a let’s play video using a Rooster Teeth video game?
Yes!

Will Rooster Teeth try to monetize my let’s play video?
Nope, as long as your let’s play video is free to watch for everyone.

May I monetize my let’s play video?
Yes, as long as your video remains free to watch for everyone.

May I be paid by a sponsor to make a let’s play video of a Rooster Teeth video game?
Yes, as long as you follow applicable rules regarding disclosing sponsored videos, and don’t imply you are endorsed by Rooster Teeth in any way.

May I make a reaction or review video with Rooster Teeth content?
Yes, as long as it follows the community use guidelines outlined above.

May I make an AMV (anime music video) or other type of video using music from Rooster Teeth?
Yes, so long as you follow the content usage guidelines. Please note Rooster Teeth uses licensed music from a variety of sources and might not be the owner of the music you use, even if you originally heard it in one of our videos. If we're not the ones claiming your content, you'll have to reach out to the rights holder even if you originally found that music in a Rooster Teeth video.

Will you monetize my video using music from Rooster Teeth?
If you post your video on YouTube, we will use Content ID to claim your video and will likely monetize the audio portion of the video. Please note Rooster Teeth uses licensed music from a variety of sources and might not be the owner of the music you use, even if you originally heard it in one of our videos. If we're not the ones claiming your content, you'll have to reach out to the rights holder even if you originally found that music in a Rooster Teeth video.

Is there a disclaimer I should use on my Rooster Teeth fan project?

Yup! You should include the following notice in an easy-to-see location, such as in the YouTube description box or on the website page where your project is available:

This is not endorsed by Rooster Teeth in any way. Views, opinions, and thoughts are all my own. Rooster Teeth and [name of Rooster Teeth show/character/etc.] are trade names or registered trademarks of Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC. © Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC.

Does Rooster Teeth run YouTube’s Content ID? How will that affect my fan project?
We do. We love fan projects and want you to make them, but there are a lot of people just trying to make a buck by reposting our IP in full, and we’re not ok with that. Due to this we do run Content ID. If your project contains a large amount of a Rooster Teeth video, it will most likely be claimed when you upload it to your channel. The first policy we automatically apply is a “block” policy, which means your video won’t be visible at first. When this happens, all you need to do is dispute the claim in your Video Manager (here are more details on how dispute a claim). Within 2 business days, we will review your video and will either remove the claim or change the policy. If we don’t remove the claim or change the policy, that means our staff member who watched it decided it does not follow the above guidelines or fair use provisions of the US Copyright Act, and our claim and/or policy is correct. If you feel strongly we’ve made a mistake, please e-mail fanprojects@roosterteeth.com and include as much information as possible in your email such as links to the videos, your YouTube Channel ID, your contact information and any other information pertaining to your request, and we’ll get back to you.

Will Rooster Teeth try to monetize my reaction video?
If Rooster Teeth content takes up most of the screen for most of your video and you don’t add a lot to it, we will likely monetize it. We handle these decisions on a case-by-case basis.

Will Rooster Teeth try to monetize my review video?
If you add a significant amount of your own input to the video, we probably will not monetize it. We handle these decisions on a case-by-case basis.

I’m a FIRST Member, and I watch Rooster Teeth content before it’s released on YouTube. Can I release a reaction or review video on YouTube before the episode is available on YouTube?
Thanks for being an awesome FIRST Member! If you can, we generally prefer you to post your reaction video on YouTube after our episodes are released there. But no matter when it’s released, we’ll still enforce these guidelines the same.

My videos are free to watch, but may I take donations?
Yes, as long as your videos remain free to watch, and you do not license your videos to a third party.

I believe my YouTube video was claimed incorrectly by Rooster Teeth. Can you release the claim?
We use YouTube’s ContentID system to help us enforce these guidelines. You should always start by using YouTube’s tools to appeal a claim you feel was applied incorrectly. If your appeal is denied, it means someone at Rooster Teeth personally reviewed it and determined we applied a policy to your video consistent with these guidelines.

I received a copyright strike on my YouTube account due to uploading a Rooster Teeth video. I’m really sorry. Can you remove the strike please?
Copyright strikes are no joke, and we take them very seriously. We only issue copyright strikes after you dispute a claim on your video three times. That means someone at Rooster Teeth personally reviewed it three times, and still determined we applied the claim correctly. The good news is the strike will go away in three months if you complete YouTube's Copyright School. It's a quick online course and they've done a lot to make it at least a little bit fun.

May I sell my Rooster Teeth fan art online or at conventions?
We love and appreciate fan art, and are fine with you producing it for your own enjoyment, to give away as a gift, or to post pictures of online. But we can’t give you permission to sell anything based on our IP.

May I use Rooster Teeth graphics, characters, and logos in my original work?
Using our logos unaltered is not allowed, per the above. Graphics and characters are fine to use as long as your original work is free to watch/own/etc.

May I create fanfiction with original characters who exist inside the universe of a Rooster Teeth show?
Yes, as long as it’s for personal use and free to watch for everyone.

How can I contact Rooster Teeth about my fan project?
If you need our advance written approval to use Rooster Teeth IP, or have any questions, contact us at fanprojects@roosterteeth.com with all the details of your fan project and its intended use. We’ll reply back as soon as we can. Note that a lack of a reply from us does not imply approval for any use of Rooster Teeth IP – it probably just means your question is covered by the community use guidelines.