[BLOG] STiCLi Games Want You To Ask Their Permission To Make Review Videos

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PredictedCyborg
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[BLOG] STiCLi Games Want You To Ask Their Permission To Make Review Videos

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They do say that when one door closes another opens... or in this case when one indie developer with a problem with review videos goes away, another one appears.



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Today on the discussion page associated with their simulator game Airport Master, STiCLi Games posted up a topic entitled "IMPORTANT! As per EULA you can only make YouTube videos with our written permission!" Airport Master is an Early Access game right now, which requires you to agree to a third-party EULA to play it. Usually this wouldn't be an issue, but in the aforementioned discussion topic the developer lists a part of that EULA agreement that they claim means they're allowed to tell people they cannot make Youtube videos about their game without first getting permission from the developer:

As per statement number 4 of our EULA, that you accepted:
http://store.steampowered.com//eula/584280_eula_0



4. TRADEMARKS AND RIGHTS TO THE SOFTWARE
The End User recognizes that all of the rights associated with the Software as well as the rights related to the trademarks, royalties and copyrights, are the property of STICLI Games and are protected by international laws and treaties. Any use of Copyright Holder's trademarks, imagery content, videos, graphical elements, names, plot in any activity (including but not limited to: producing 3d party video content, electronic and on-paper publishing, creation of promotional content etc.) is only possible with prior written permission of Copyright Holder.



That means you MUST obtain prior written permission from us before uploading any videos to YouTube. Otherwise, you are breaching the EULA and we can terminate your software license without refund and fire a copyright strike on YouTube.



If you are not yet aware of what Copyright Strike on YouTube is, please read:
https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2814000?hl=en



So, to all Youtubers, please write us and apply for your written permission before publishing any videos about Airport Master!


This should instantly throw up red flags for gamers, as policing who can and can't talk about your game is often linked to a developer wanting to hide that their game isn't very good. Of course, this is an Early Access title so you'd expect it to not be finished, but if the game is at that supposed level why restrict access? It doesn't make sense, unless the developer doesn't want bad press cutting their sales or really doesn't understand how a EULA and Fair Use works.



And in case you're wondering just why they've chosen to post this statement to their game's Steam page - look no further than Mr. Jim Sterling. Is this all beginning to sound familiar?






If you see, them bringing up their EULA and them finding my video happened at the same time. https://t.co/uLLtzwmsaF https://t.co/8hec5DreC0
— Jim RESISTerling (@JimSterling) March 4, 2017


Sterling's video has been hit by a claim already, and instead of the usual DMCA claim Sterling says that he has been hit with a trademark claim. For context, this would mean Sterling would have to be doing something using a symbol that meant he could be confused with whatever trademarks STiCLi has on Airport Master... which he clearly isn't.



Right now, reviews for the game are mixed to say the least. Most reviews have sunk at least a few hours into it; but reading through the reviews even the ones that are 'positive' recommend waiting until the game is more finished, with many containing the phrases "tech demo", "very early access" and "glitchy" - and a few say that the game really has been released much too early with planes vanishing only to never return making the game "unplayable". Others say that there's really not much gameplay available - and the game costs £11.99 in the UK so that's not encouraging.



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For now, STiCLi has time to reverse their course. Maybe they're literally just small developers who released their game a bit too early, don't understand how fair use works and they will actually turn Airport Master into something decent worth the price tag. I really hope that is the case here.



However, history has taught us that indie devs who decide they are above criticism often don't learn their lesson. Tangling with Sterling or any other Youtube critic with a big audience often results in their loss of reputation in the lesser case, and at worst the entire studio going under (as happened with Digital Homicide).



All we can do now is wait and see what route STiCLi choose to take.
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