Hi all,

A discussion on You Tube's new rules began over in the DAZ forums yesterday but moderators closed the thread more or less immediately because the topic could have led to political and other non-TOS comments.  Fair enough but I learned enough to be a bit concerned for the many casual You Tube posters such as we 3d enthusiasts posting animations either as completed works or short demos.

Before continuing, I would appeal to anyone with views on the subject to respect Reallusion's hospitality and not let this topic become an embarrassment which needs to be moderated.  I think the topic is a totally valid one for discussion because animations in general are likely to attract child viewers and we need to know clearly the legal pitfalls that may bite us severely.

Basically, it seems that Google has been fined millions of dollars for collecting data on minors who view videos on You Tube (they do that for us all, apparently, to target advertisements).  From the start of next year, everyone posting videos must declare whether the work is aimed at minors.  If so, then various 'services' are withdrawn for that video - among them user data collection.  No data being collected means no monetisation for those who post.  (All existing videos or entire channels are also to be rated by the creators).

It might seem that I am supplying information here but I'm actually puzzled and am looking for answers because yesterday was the first I heard of it.

It is asserted in a video I watched (no link, sorry) that violations may result in fines of over 42K US dollars per video - from the US legal authorities, not Google.

So here is my question.  Suppose I, as a 3D hobbyist, create a few dinosaurs in 3DCoat, rig them and show my work or workflow as a short Iclone video showing fellow hobbyists what I've created - maybe with a couple of DAZ or CC3 characters thrown in to the renders.  I go on to post my video for forum interest and rate it for adults because a DAZ cavewoman is wearing a prehistoric fur skimpy thing.  I don't even attempt to monetise it so that isn't an issue for me personally.

But someone notices that a child has seen the video, attracted by dinosaurs, and complained that the child's viewing data has been harvested by Google.  I am open to censure (ie a massive fine) - or am I?  On the other hand, if I make an animation that a child may watch and rate it for children's viewing, then it must be truly appropriate - and who knows what that means in today's world?

The term to research seems to be 'COPPA'  - child's on-line protection something something.

I'll probably take down the few miserable videos I have and post no more on You Tube.  If I ever make something worth showing, I'll need to learn the rules of other places to post online.

It's probably going to kill the platform to be honest unless they have separate streams for other countries than America.

As an Australian I ran afoul of YouTube the very first week I joined and uploaded an animation flagged for nudity and was stumped.

They are not actually making these laws and less than thrilled about it too.

The way I see it is... don't worry about it.  YouTube/Google is basically doing a CYA (because THEY, not you, are the ones at real risk -- who the hell is going to sue you?  Unless you're a rich guy I don't know anything about, in which case I'm very sorry to have offended you, sir, and hope you won't have me suicided).

IOW, if I can state this another way -- WE'RE not the people anyone is worried about.  Now, Google may well censor you/stop you/ostracize you for any and all reasons they might deem proper (many of which will not be but I won't get political).  But don't worry about other folks.  If Google keeps your videos from being available, there's always Vimeo.

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Alienware Aurora R16, Win 11, i9-149000KF, 3.20GHz CPU, 64GB RAM, RTX 4090 (24GB), Samsung 870 Pro 8TB, Gen3 MVNe M-2 SSD, 4TBx2, 39" Alienware Widescreen Monitor
Mike "ex-genius" Kelley

Thanks, Wendy and Kellytoons for commenting.

Maybe I'm getting worried for nothing.  Probably You Tube will be able to steer minors into seeing nothing but child-rated clips and it will be their own doing if they find themselves looking at stuff rated for adults.  (It sounds as though I'm talking of X-rated but I'm not.  A film intended for adults can still have a general 'cartoon' appearance with this software).

If You Tube do steer children to seeing only age-appropriate content, then it is only those who wish to monetise who will lose out (I think a lot of people encourage their own children into becoming celebrities or fashion stars for their peers and get zillions of views.  Any money from that will probably now dry up.

Your post gave me a laugh, Kellytoons - it took me a while to realize what CYA could stand for.  Unfortunately I'm not a billionaire - unless my meager savings can be converted into some currency somewhere in the world where small sums get paid in millions.  But since you've reassured me, I won't get you suicided.

You get more than your share of flak from authorities, Wendy.  But you help the rest of us very much in what you do and tell us about in forum posts, which the wider world of critics doesn't get to see.   

No generally I don't actually 
I only get flack from certain individuals who are currently on the DAZ forum moderation team, it was not always so and is not any place else, there is a couple individuals who don't like me and with at least one of the two it was a result of a falling out in a private Skype group over actions involving other Carrara forum users who actually left the forum entirely afterwards.
I won't name names but in spite of them claiming moderator actions are a group decision it is only if these two are on I get moderated, I can reply and be quoted by other moderators in threads and they will remove it afterwards in their shift.
I really don't want to air my dirty laundry on this forum though, but it is also one reason I don't talk about iClone more over there either even though I use it as much as Carrara and it was my first 3D program I started with, any discussion by me about any other commercial software will be immediately be shut down by those two people even using DAZ content, even Poser.
I actually agree this post is totally out of line here and something I could never say on the forum I am discussing so understand if it is removed.

Back on topic
every platform has its rules
it is a privilege if they let us use it
YouTube might lose a lot of content creators over this but they are not obligated to allow anything 
as said other platforms might benefit 
Vimeo is not free though so there is that

Sorry to hear of what has been happening, Wendy and it's probably better that I don't comment further other than to say that I'm not a huge fan of everything done over there.

In general, I post quite rarely in all the forums I visit because I'm not good at the 'etiquette' of it all.  I'm not online all the time (I had logged out for the night and chanced to come back to see you had posted again) and sometimes a thread has moved on so much that I don't resurrect it to say something polite like 'thanks' because I hate the idea of thirty people wasting their time to see that as newest post.  Then I fear that I've been rude and the person I haven't thanked will now be annoyed by me.  Also I don't write in a quick, to the point way, which makes my posts long and boring.  Then there is the impossibility of commenting on every work or image that has been great to see so some people's work I've commented on and others Iseem to have ignored.  The problem with lurking is that going on to show my own work feels as though I only want to converse about what I've done as though it's only me who matters.

So it's easier for me not to post!  I think some people love doing so, however, and that's great for us all.

The way I understand it is that Google wants to protect themselves against litigation and I can't blame them for that. I don't monetize.

I've simply put both my channels in the Adult-only category, as I don't make anything specific for children, although I think they would enjoy some of the Pinhead movies.

It would be nice if parents would take some responsibility, but they are too busy being on-line themselves. But that's just a childless old person talking.

I remember in elementary school in the Netherlands, we discussed "dirty" words. My parents had an extensive Dutch dictionary and I would look up those words and return with the definition. 

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Who in their right monetary mind would try to sue youtube/google? They will bury you using their lawyers if you actually get to litigation. Dont know their eulas or terms of service since i avoid them like a plague, but in many cases you are giving away your right to sue. Ever seen the this software is provided as is part of the eula/tos? That means if you use their software and it breaks your pc or collapses the entire universe they are not responsible. That is the silicon valley's motto: we ain't responsible for shit and the user can go f himself.

It's the government suing them they are worried about -- even Google is afraid of the Feds.

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Alienware Aurora R16, Win 11, i9-149000KF, 3.20GHz CPU, 64GB RAM, RTX 4090 (24GB), Samsung 870 Pro 8TB, Gen3 MVNe M-2 SSD, 4TBx2, 39" Alienware Widescreen Monitor
Mike "ex-genius" Kelley