- Joined
- Jun 26, 2020
- Messages
- 2,072
- Reaction score
- 2,056
With a few specific exceptions (see sponsor section), participants may not use the Forum for commercial gain.
This is from the Terms of Service. As a member who’s interested in starting a YouTube (YT) channel, as well as a personal brand related to aquariums, I’m wondering where the line gets drawn when it comes to this. I have not personally done any of the following, but I am curious about what is and is not allowed.
Once you have fulfilled some requirements on YT, you become eligible for monetization of the videos you make. Similarly, due to the weird ad revenue rules, some YT’ers use services including Patreon, and KoFi, where people can pay/tip them money for the content they provide. And with each view (I think), you can get money. Which seems like a violation of the TOS? Since if you direct people to your monetized channel, then you get paid. So where does the line get drawn when it comes to situations like this?
Similarly, let’s say I use my username (ichthyogeek), as a brand and start selling something like live food cultures on a separate platform like AquaBid. People ask me questions about my product, which I answer on this forum, but I don’t explicitly state that I have stuff for sale except in the sales forum. My brand (Ichthyogeek) is associated with who I am, but does that count as a business?
Alternatively, I’m a big fan of using google docs to share information. Explicitly, because it does not have the functionality for ads. A personal website could run ads, and by directing users to the website, they gain ad revenue. But with the google drive situation, let’s say that I ask for a kofi tip in order to compensate me for the work that I have done (ex, comparing salt brands requires reaching out to companies, compiling them into a spreadsheet, and other stuff, all of which involve my time, which is money). Is that allowed?
Mostly I’m just confused about where lines get drawn. I want to make sure that whatever my course of action is, in the future (it could be starting the next capitalist empire, or even just having this as a pipe dream), I’m in good standing as a part of the forum, whether that be as a sponsor, or as a member.
Edit: And yes, I know a good way to “get around” any loopholes would be to just not have the member name be the brand/channel name (I also really like the name PisciNerd....), but like....people are smart.
This is from the Terms of Service. As a member who’s interested in starting a YouTube (YT) channel, as well as a personal brand related to aquariums, I’m wondering where the line gets drawn when it comes to this. I have not personally done any of the following, but I am curious about what is and is not allowed.
Once you have fulfilled some requirements on YT, you become eligible for monetization of the videos you make. Similarly, due to the weird ad revenue rules, some YT’ers use services including Patreon, and KoFi, where people can pay/tip them money for the content they provide. And with each view (I think), you can get money. Which seems like a violation of the TOS? Since if you direct people to your monetized channel, then you get paid. So where does the line get drawn when it comes to situations like this?
Similarly, let’s say I use my username (ichthyogeek), as a brand and start selling something like live food cultures on a separate platform like AquaBid. People ask me questions about my product, which I answer on this forum, but I don’t explicitly state that I have stuff for sale except in the sales forum. My brand (Ichthyogeek) is associated with who I am, but does that count as a business?
Alternatively, I’m a big fan of using google docs to share information. Explicitly, because it does not have the functionality for ads. A personal website could run ads, and by directing users to the website, they gain ad revenue. But with the google drive situation, let’s say that I ask for a kofi tip in order to compensate me for the work that I have done (ex, comparing salt brands requires reaching out to companies, compiling them into a spreadsheet, and other stuff, all of which involve my time, which is money). Is that allowed?
Mostly I’m just confused about where lines get drawn. I want to make sure that whatever my course of action is, in the future (it could be starting the next capitalist empire, or even just having this as a pipe dream), I’m in good standing as a part of the forum, whether that be as a sponsor, or as a member.
Edit: And yes, I know a good way to “get around” any loopholes would be to just not have the member name be the brand/channel name (I also really like the name PisciNerd....), but like....people are smart.
Last edited: