YouTube's contest policies and guidelines

YouTube · Official agreement

Read the agreement

2 of 17 cards in Content & IP Rights

Content & IP Rights · Restriction or exception

The contest may not infringe third-party rights or involve unlawful activity

A contest may not infringe, or encourage the infringement of, any third party's rights, and may not encourage participation in any unlawful activity.

Supporting quotations

Your contest cannot infringe upon or encourage the infringement of any third-party rights or the participation in any unlawful activity.

Qualifications & exceptions

  • Applies to infringement and to encouraging infringement.

Not stated here

  • The text does not say which third-party rights are meant beyond "any third-party rights".

Content & IP Rights · Restriction or exception

The contest may not ask entrants to give all rights in, or transfer ownership of, their entry

The contest runner cannot ask a viewer to give all rights for, or transfer the ownership of, their entry to the contest runner. The text rules out an all-rights grant or an ownership transfer. It does not say what narrower permission, if any, a contest may ask for.

Supporting quotations

You cannot ask the viewer to give all rights for, or transfer the ownership of, their entry to you.

Qualifications & exceptions

  • The limit is on asking for all rights or for ownership of the entry.

Not stated here

  • Whether a contest may ask for a narrower license to use an entry is not stated in this document.