Revenue From Selling Training Videos

[Psmith]

Does the same licensing rule apply, (UDK is free until an enterprise earns $5000 from the use of the software), for those wishing to embark on an enterprise that sells UDK training materials?

In other words, can we begin making professional quality video training for the Unreal Development Kit, and sell the videos, for profit - using only the free version of the UDK, until we realize $5000 in profits? After this, of course, we would be expected to sign a "Commercial" License agreement and contribute 25% of our profits to Unreal?

Clarification would be helpful.

Thank you,

Greg Smith

[treeform]

I think you have to pay $99 in advance too, according to your logic.

[Henrik]

There is only one version. The free version. You only pay when you're ready to sign a license. And as far as I know you are free to sell training materials related to Unreal, what you cannot sell without a license, is content made inside the engine.

[Psmith]

Steve Polge:

I wonder if you could state the terms for using the UDK for profit, (the profits coming from sales of video training modules) - Just so nobody wastes time and resources having based their efforts on false assumptions.

In other words, what is the official Epic policy regarding the above?

Thank you,

Greg Smith

[Wormbo]

The question is: Would anyone (read that as: enough people) pay good money for training videos if there are free tutorials available as well? And you can bet there will be plenty tuts for the UDK very soon.

[meri]

There are always people willing to pay for the tutorials if they are of outstanding quality.

[Wormbo]

Well then:

If you use UDK in your business, sell a game or application created using UDK, sell services or training and in connection with that business, distribute an application you've created using UDK, or use UDK in any way to generate revenue, directly or indirectly, in addition to your agreeing to the UDK EULA, you are required to sign a UDK Commercial Use License Agreement.
http://udk.com/licensing.html

[Nawrot]

The question is: Would anyone (read that as: enough people) pay good money for training videos if there are free tutorials available as well? And you can bet there will be plenty tuts for the UDK very soon.

There are done already for UT3, most things are unchanged, just few powerful and cool tools added, but those are mostly quite advanced.

For eg. making video tutorial for lightmass would be nice but anybody that is at point of polishing level with it can just learn from UDN or experiment with it.

[schizoslayer]

Well then:

http://udk.com/licensing.html

Something I was thinking of due to the (intentionally) fuzzy wording of that statement:

If I make a game with UDK and distribute it for free (thus no need for a license) that becomes popular and I then start selling merchandise (IE T-Shirts) with my games logo on it does Epic consider the money I'm making from my merchandise revenue gleaned "indirectly" from the UDK and as such going to come to my house with a big sack to take away my money?

In a reasonable agreement revenue from merchandise would not count as somebody could buy it without ever downloading or playing the game (they might just like the logo). I'm more interested to see if Epic have purposefully worded the agreement so that if you use UDK they are then entitled to essentially 25% of everything you make regardless of whether or not you sold a game.

[Demruth]

Hehehe... I'm imagining the situation where Epic go "So, we notice that you got hired and you are now earning X Dollars. Sorry, but your work with UDK contributed to that, so we need 25% of your salary"

:P

[Psmith]

Yes, the licensing statement is entirely confusing in light of the "new", advertised licensing scheme which, supposedly, allows developers to profit from anything they develop with UDK, and owe no royalties, whatsoever, until $5000 in revenue is earned from the sale of that content. This, in theory, should apply to training materials developed with and for the UDK that are being sold for profit.

Would someone, (Steve Polge, or anyone from the Epic legal department), please address these very serious questions so that nobody spends time and money based on false or misleading information?

Thank you very much,

Greg Smith

[WillM]

Hey Greg,

Sorry about any confusion.

Selling training videos is not covered by the terms of the UDK commercial license. If you want to head in that direction I'd ask that you email a proposal and sample of prior work to udklicensing@epicgames.com.

For clarification: anyone can put tutorials up for free, but get in touch with us if you plan to sell the tutorials.

[BlackRoc]

The guys over at 3dbuzz (http://www.3dbuzz.com) have already been contracted to do a VTM series for UDK and they have said they are sending them to Epic for distribution. And said that they should be availible soon, i.e. in about a week, up to Epic.

These are the guys that did the VTMs that came with the collectors edition of UT3 and UT2005. Great vids. I think you can find them on the web now for free.

[Psmith]

There seem to be 2 different kinds of "commercial licenses" for the UDK:

One requires a $99 up front fee and also a continuous payment of 25% of revenue made on any use of the engine at all - directly or indirectly - for revenues over $5000. But the FAQ is even unclear about that amount for every kind of usage.

The other "commercial license" seems to suggest the need for a "per seat" fee, either in addition to the $99 up front fee or in replacement of this fee. It is not clear how much a "per seat" license costs, nor who is required to obtain one and for what specific reasons a person is required to obtain one.

My interpretation is that the licensing fees for obtaining revenue from "unofficial" training materials offered for sale is much higher and more stringent than for someone creating an actual game for sale using the UDK for development.

This seems like a strange set of rules to me. Please clarify so that all confusion can be laid to rest.

Thank you,

Greg Smith

[ffejnosliw]

The per-seat license is $2500 and is in place of the $99 + royalties license. The per-seat license is for anyone looking to make commercial gain off of UDK, but not by distributing a game or application made with UDK. Training videos clearly falls into this area as you would not be distributing the UDK or a game/application made with it, but you would certainly be making monetary gains off of it. Yes, the upfront cost is higher, but it is a one-time fee regardless of how much you profit.

[mortalhuman]

sell services or training and in connection with that business, distribute an application you've created using UDK

Just don't include anything built with UDK.