Hi,

I'm new on this forum, so hi guys!

I was wondering, is it legal to take youtubemovies of existing games, put your own music under it and use it for your showreel as a demo for your work?

I've been searching the internet and the youtube laws, but I can not find an answer to this question.

Thanks so much for help!

Legality all depends on details.

To minimize risk I would only take the pieces you need, only use the parts that showcase exactly what you did and not what anyone else did, and try to keep anything else to a minimum.

For example, if you were an animator on a major game, taking closeup video of the game that has shipped that showcases what you built is going to be quite safe. If you were person who animated a major boss exploding in a fireball of awesomeness and that was used by marketing, you could likely include that (already public) clip as part of your portfolio.

But if you did not work on the titles, if the youtube clips are for games you didn't make, they have no business at all being among your demos. Aside from legal issues from using work that isn't yours, the company will almost certainly realize those were not yours when comparing against your resume. That is a great reason to not hire you.

Hi Frob,

thanks for your response.

I meant, It's the soundtrack and the soundeffects I made, so those are all mine.

But the images of the game are not from mine.

Would the same arguments still hold up? Just trying to do the right thing...

Yup, if you made it, and they already released it publicly, you're pretty safe to add parts of it to your portfolio.

There is always an element of risk to anything you do, but in this case as it is limited use of something you built for another project, and it is a part of your career, and the company already released the music for general consumption, that is not a particularly large risk. You are submitting a portfolio of samples of things you have done before, not publicly posting trade secrets from inside the company.

The courts have established a four-prong test to help guide if the infringement is actually a fair use of the product. It is still a judgement call rather than a bright line, but building a demo reel to showcase your work history would almost certainly be immediately dismissed by the courts. While it doesn't have a so-called "bright line" of right and wrong, within the huge gray area it is in the "it's okay" region. The risk is not quite zero, but less risky than other acts like driving a vehicle or visiting a public restroom. Extremely safe, but not perfectly safe.

Exercise some care to ensure that your use is brief. Use enough to showcase what you have done, not so much that it becomes an alternative to the game's soundtrack bonus content.

I think MusicToGo is asking if he can use footage from a game he did not work on, and compose music for it, and make a demo reel to show what he would compose for that game.

Yep, that's the question.

I don't see much composers do it, so i presume it's not ok, but I'm not sure.

To make it more complicated: to practice i took some gameplay-movies from youtube and put my music under it.

The owners of the movie are players, but obviously they took the images of a game that's not theirs.

So who is the owner of the footage? The players that put it on youtube? Or are the images and movies property of the gamedevelopers that made the game?

... only use the parts that showcase exactly what you did and not what anyone else did...

But if you did not work on the titles, if the youtube clips are for games you didn't make, they have no business at all being among your demos. Aside from legal issues from using work that isn't yours, the company will almost certainly realize those were not yours when comparing against your resume. That is a great reason to not hire you.