Hi everyone,
I’ve recently received a warning from Cfx regarding a violation of the Creator Platform License Agreement.
The issue listed was:
Unauthorized use of third-party IP: YouTube Integration
I’m trying to understand exactly what triggered this.
On my server, YouTube was used through an in-game TV system (RTX TV), where players could input a video URL and play it via the YouTube iframe API. The server itself does not host or store any media.
Is the violation caused by using YouTube at all, regardless of implementation?
Or is it specifically about the content being played (music/videos without rights)?
Are systems like RTX TV considered non-compliant by default?
Is there any allowed way to integrate YouTube (for example, UI-only, embeds, or API usage without playback)?
Also:
I’ve noticed multiple scripts with YouTube integration being sold on cfx marketplace and used widely across servers, which makes this situation a bit confusing.
I have already disabled YouTube playback on my server.
Would appreciate clarification from other server owners or anyone who has dealt with this.
Thanks.
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AFAIK any external music or media playing is TOS; the only work around that I’m aware of currently is user-uploaded media via the file system.
Totally agree with you about the lack of clarification; they kinda just throw new stuff in every couple of months so you’re expected to keep reading these new terms each time they come out.
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Unfortunately, there isn’t any clear official explanation outlining exactly what is allowed and what isn’t under the PLA, especially when it comes to embeds (like YouTube iframe/API usage).
In our case, rtx_tv has had all external sources disabled for quite some time, including YouTube. We also make it very clear in the product description that any use of external sources is entirely the user’s responsibility. Specifically, we state that all external integrations are disabled by default, and if someone decides to enable or use them, they must ensure they are fully compliant with the Creator Platform License Agreement.
By default, rtx_tv only supports local media, which—based on our understanding—is the only clearly compliant approach at the moment.
At the same time, a bigger issue in general are various radio or sound resources that actually download audio from YouTube in the background just to apply effects like muffling or 3D positional audio. These effects often can’t be achieved without fetching and processing the audio itself, which makes those solutions even more questionable from a compliance standpoint. Our resource does not do this at all.
It’s also worth noting that you can receive a report for basically any resource that uses YouTube in some way—this can include things like play sound libraries, radio scripts, or even loading screens if they rely on a YouTube player.
Local media works perfectly fine and is the safest option right now. You can see how it works in our update video here:
If you’re using an older version, we strongly recommend updating the resource to the latest version to avoid any potential issues.
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As RTX already pointed out, if you are using YouTube, you are using their API which might already be a problem.
Furthermore it can be used to stream copyrighted content to several people. YouTube embeds have been problematic in the past in Discord for example.
Also looking at music… Streaming music in a public environment (yes, a game server counts as public) is subject to the rights of the representative organisation (e.g. ASCAP in USA, GEMA in Germany) and you basically have to pay royalties to them (if the music in question is represented by them).
The big grey area (in my opinion) is in the way it is “streamed”. After all, every client has their own instance of the player (e.g. YouTube) and it is just synced, similar to platforms like “watchtogether” websites which are generally legal.
It’s not like you are watching a twitch stream where someone re-streams content (which is generally illegal).
Another problem is also the generalisation that happens which usually simply results in everything being forbidden instead of a case by case basis. After all the YouTube player could just be used for content that has been recorded by the server owner and uploaded there.
The PLA itself does not include anything that would forbid this. Even 2.4 with its “create, upload, or distribute”. None of those are happening when everyone has their own player with their own connection to YouTube (or other services).
(I have not counterchecked with R* legal if that might contain something explicit)
