Mojang No Longer Allowing Companies to use Minecraft to Promote Products

Lizzy Finnegan

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Mojang No Longer Allowing Companies to use Minecraft to Promote Products

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If you are using Minecraft to advertise your business, brand, or product, Mojang has a few new rules.

In a post today [https://mojang.com/2016/05/lets-talk-promotions-in-minecraft/], Mojang addressed the use of Minecraft by companies in order to advertise and promote unrelated items. Mojang says that this sort of use "doesn't feel right, or more importantly, fun," and outlined what brands can - and can't - do moving forward.

On example: "if you're a movie studio, you can't make a map that uses Minecraft blocks to build out the fictional world of the movie or its characters, and you can't make an official movie trailer out of gameplay footage from that map or mod."

Fans can still create whatever they want, assuming there's no money involved, with the post stating that "the new rules only apply to companies or organisations that are using Minecraft to sell their products or promote their causes."

"We want to empower our community to make money from their creativity, but we're not happy when the selling of an unrelated product becomes the purpose of a Minecraft mod or server," the post reads. "That doesn't feel right, or more importantly, fun. The new rules are an attempt to stop these things from happening. You can read the new rules in the section of the Guidelines [https://account.mojang.com/documents/commercial_guidelines] called Building Promotions with Minecraft, but here's a quick breakdown for convenience."

According to the post, ad agencies, corporations, non-profits, and politicians are no longer allowed to do the following:

Build a Minecraft mod or server that promotes unrelated products in playable form; e.g., if you are a restaurant chain, you can't market your restaurant by releasing a mod that includes your restaurant built out of Minecraft blocks.
Build a Minecraft map or mod that markets a movie or TV show; e.g., if you're a movie studio, you can't make a map that uses Minecraft blocks to build out the fictional world of the movie or its characters, and you can't make an official movie trailer out of gameplay footage from that map or mod.
It's worth mentioning that fans of a particular restaurant, movie, or some other thing are still free to build things in Minecraft that represent or celebrate it so long as the goal or focus is not to promote or sell that stuff. The new rules only apply to companies or organisations that are using Minecraft to sell their products or promote their causes.

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lacktheknack

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Jan 19, 2009
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Sounds good to me. And they still allowed the less imaginative fans to build whatever they want, so fine.
 

thewatergamer

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Sounds completely fair and reasonable, modders can still do whatever they want and the minecraft "brand" remains relatively on topic and can't be used to promote random tat
 

Naldan

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Feb 25, 2015
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"doesn't feel right, or more importantly, fun,"
Jesus, do they now have a Jester for a spokesperson?

Nitpicky, but what has fun to do with this? Are they bored?


Note: I wouldn't have allowed that from the very beginning.
 

Janaschi

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Aug 21, 2012
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A perfectly reasonable decision. I am surprised that this was not already established back when the original Mojang slapped down their new rules for server owners that also ran websites, and were selling in-game assets through them.
 

lacktheknack

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Naldan said:
"doesn't feel right, or more importantly, fun,"
Jesus, do they now have a Jester for a spokesperson?

Nitpicky, but what has fun to do with this? Are they bored?


Note: I wouldn't have allowed that from the very beginning.
Uhm, it has everything to do with it?

People are hosting servers that are literally ads, which probably irritates lots of Minecraft players looking for new servers to play on. Fun has everything to do with it.
 

CaitSeith

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This is pretty much like if Sherwin-Williams said "you can no longer paint advertisements or business buildings with our paints and tools". This is pretty much the beginning of the end for Minecraft a step-back in making games a mature media.
 

Makabriel

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CaitSeith said:
This is pretty much like if Sherwin-Williams said "you can no longer paint advertisements or business buildings with our paints and tools".
Um... no? How does that relate? Minecraft isn't a tool, it's a game.

On a side note, I didn't think Mojang owned Minecraft anymore? Thought he sold it to MS?
 

NLS

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Jan 7, 2010
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Makabriel said:
CaitSeith said:
This is pretty much like if Sherwin-Williams said "you can no longer paint advertisements or business buildings with our paints and tools".
Um... no? How does that relate? Minecraft isn't a tool, it's a game.

On a side note, I didn't think Mojang owned Minecraft anymore? Thought he sold it to MS?
Mojang is the developer of Minecraft, both being owned by Microsoft. The original founder of Mojang and Minecraft is no longer involved.

OT: Sounds fair to me, should cut down on some obvious cash ins and scams.
 

faefrost

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I'm wondering if this isn't in part some blowback from things like the Tobuscus scandal over on YouTube? In particular the commercial products largely being created using Minecraft that then drags Mojang into unwanted spaces and controversies.
 

CaitSeith

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Makabriel said:
CaitSeith said:
This is pretty much like if Sherwin-Williams said "you can no longer paint advertisements or business buildings with our paints and tools".
Um... no? How does that relate? Minecraft isn't a tool, it's a game.
Countless Youtube videos made in 3D animation software with Minecraft-made scenography differ.

Like this music video, where the Minecraft world was imported into and animation program and. You can download the world [http://www.planetminecraft.com/project/my-castle-with-trench/] and explore it by yourself!


It's a game and a world building tool with uses outside LPs.
 

RaikuFA

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CaitSeith said:
Makabriel said:
CaitSeith said:
This is pretty much like if Sherwin-Williams said "you can no longer paint advertisements or business buildings with our paints and tools".
Um... no? How does that relate? Minecraft isn't a tool, it's a game.
Countless Youtube videos made in 3D animation software with Minecraft-made scenography differ.

Like this music video, where the Minecraft world was imported into and animation program and. You can download the world [http://www.planetminecraft.com/project/my-castle-with-trench/] and explore it by yourself!


It's a game and a world building tool with uses outside LPs.
Well that was shit. I heard of these things from IHE.

Also, there's Minecraft sex videos.

Fuck this world.
 

CaitSeith

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RaikuFA said:
Also, there's Minecraft sex videos.
Didn't know, not surprised, don't care. There is a reason why the Rule 34 isn't the Exception 34.
 

Jsbwalker

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CaitSeith said:
Makabriel said:
CaitSeith said:
This is pretty much like if Sherwin-Williams said "you can no longer paint advertisements or business buildings with our paints and tools".
Um... no? How does that relate? Minecraft isn't a tool, it's a game.
Countless Youtube videos made in 3D animation software with Minecraft-made scenography differ.

Like this music video, where the Minecraft world was imported into and animation program and. You can download the world [http://www.planetminecraft.com/project/my-castle-with-trench/] and explore it by yourself!



It's a game and a world building tool with uses outside LPs.
How is that important? It's still not like paint because the primary intention of the product and the designers is for it to be used like a toy or a game.

It's more like if Lego decided that people couldn't promote their commercial products by building their advertisements out of it. Which as it happens, is a thing that you currently cannot do with Lego without proper licensing and the following of strict rules. Mojang and Microsoft likely do not have a way or even a desire to license their product out in this way and until these rules, their brand had been muddied with a whole bunch of undesirable products; and even if a commercial happened to be flattering to Minecraft, Mojang still wouldn't have gotten any money for it.
 

Naldan

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Feb 25, 2015
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lacktheknack said:
Uhm, it has everything to do with it?

People are hosting servers that are literally ads, which probably irritates lots of Minecraft players looking for new servers to play on. Fun has everything to do with it.
Alright. Didn't know it was this bad that it really, legitimately has something to do with fun. Thank you, I didn't think about server lists where you could get deceived into basically playing an ad.
 

Steve the Pocket

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What's funny is that these rules don't say "Obviously you can pay us a lot of money to license the right to do any or all of the above if you want." Is it just assumed? Does it fall under that law that says you have to let someone do whatever they want with your IP if they offer to pay the standard royalty rate?