HiScores Disclaimer

The Collab HiScores leaderboard ranks streamers — both members of StreamerHomes and non-members — by the number of publicly observable co-streams ("collabs") we have counted from their public YouTube uploads. This page explains why we believe the leaderboard is lawful, what rules we hold ourselves to, and how a streamer can ask to be edited or removed.

1. Why we can publish a streamer's username and a factual collab count.

There is no single U.S. statute that grants "permission" to publish a leaderboard. Instead, our right to do so rests on a small number of long-settled legal principles, each of which we describe below.

2. Names and usernames are facts; facts are not copyrightable.

Under the U.S. Copyright Office's longstanding guidance, names, titles, short phrases, and slogans are not subject to copyright protection:

Copyright does not protect names, titles, slogans, or short phrases. In some cases, these things may be protected as trademarks. … However, copyright protection is not available for names, titles, or short phrases. — U.S. Copyright Office, Circular 33: Works Not Protected by Copyright. Available at https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ33.pdf.

A streamer's username, the title of one of their videos, and an integer such as "10 collabs" all fall on the unprotectable side of that line. Reporting that "XYZ streamer has 10 publicly observable collab videos on YouTube" is the publication of a fact, in the same way that reporting a baseball player's RBI count or a film's box-office number is the publication of a fact.

3. Facts about public conduct are protected speech.

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects the publication of truthful information about matters of public interest. The Supreme Court has held that "state action to punish the publication of truthful information seldom can satisfy constitutional standards" (Smith v. Daily Mail Publishing Co., 443 U.S. 97, 102 (1979)), and has applied that principle to the publication of lawfully obtained information about public figures and public events (Bartnicki v. Vopper, 532 U.S. 514 (2001)).

Public creators uploading public videos to a public platform are engaged in public conduct. Counting their public collabs and publishing the count is reporting on public conduct using lawfully obtained, freely available information.

4. Right of publicity, and why a factual leaderboard is not a violation.

"Right of publicity" is a state-law right (recognized most strongly in states like California, New York, Tennessee, and Florida) that protects individuals against the commercial appropriation of their name or likeness — typically, using someone's identity to sell a product or imply an endorsement. It is not a right against being mentioned, ranked, or factually described.

Courts have consistently held that newsworthy, factual, and statistical use of names does not violate the right of publicity. The leading case is C.B.C. Distribution & Marketing, Inc. v. Major League Baseball Advanced Media, L.P., 505 F.3d 818 (8th Cir. 2007), in which a fantasy-baseball operator used real players' names and statistics without a license. The Eighth Circuit ruled that even assuming a right of publicity existed, it was outweighed by the First Amendment, because the information was already in the public domain and of legitimate public interest. Comparable holdings exist in Gionfriddo v. Major League Baseball, 94 Cal. App. 4th 400 (2001), and Cardtoons, L.C. v. Major League Baseball Players Ass'n, 95 F.3d 959 (10th Cir. 1996).

StreamerHomes' use sits comfortably within this body of case law:

• We use a streamer's username to identify who a public fact pertains to. We do not use it to advertise a product, endorse a service, or sell merchandise.
• We display a numeric count of publicly observable collabs. The underlying videos already exist publicly; we are reporting on them, not creating them.
• Inclusion on the leaderboard does not imply endorsement of, membership in, or any other relationship with StreamerHomes. Non-members are clearly handled the same way as members.

5. Embedded videos.

When a HiScores entry links out to YouTube videos, those videos are played through YouTube's standard Embeddable Player. The legal basis for embedding is identical to what we describe in our Disclaimer page, and is summarized briefly here for convenience.

1. The creator's upload agreement with YouTube. When a creator uploads to YouTube, they accept YouTube's Terms of Service, which grant YouTube a worldwide license to distribute the video through YouTube's services — including the Embeddable Player.
2. The creator's "Allow embedding" setting. Every creator can turn embedding off per-video inside YouTube Studio. If a creator turns it off, embeds for that video stop working on our site automatically.
3. YouTube's express permission to embedders. Section 4 of YouTube's Terms of Service permits third parties to redistribute content through tools YouTube itself provides:

   YouTube hereby grants you permission to access and use the Service as set forth in these Terms of Service, provided that: You agree not to distribute in any medium any part of the Service or the Content without YouTube's prior written authorization, unless YouTube makes available the means for such distribution through functionality offered by the Service (such as the Embeddable Player). — YouTube Terms of Service, Section 4. https://www.youtube.com/t/terms.

We do not download, re-host, or modify any embedded video. Playback always occurs through YouTube's servers, and the creator retains all copyright in the underlying work.

6. What we will and won't do.

We will:

• Limit data displayed on the leaderboard to a streamer's username, a public score derived from publicly observable collabs, and links to the public YouTube videos that support that score.
• Use the creator's video title (a factual, uncopyrightable short phrase) as the label for each video, to make verification easy.
• Honor opt-out requests promptly. See Section 8.

We will not:

• Imply that any listed streamer endorses, sponsors, or is affiliated with StreamerHomes — unless they are in fact a member, in which case that is made clear elsewhere on the site.
• Use a streamer's name or likeness to sell merchandise, advertise third-party products, or solicit on their behalf.
• Publish private information. Only information already public on YouTube is used.
• Charge anyone to view the leaderboard.

7. Admin discretion and score integrity.

Scores are curated by hand. StreamerHomes administrators have full discretion over what qualifies as a counted co-stream and may adjust, correct, or remove entries at any time to maintain the integrity of the leaderboard. The detailed scoring rules are described on our How Points Work page.

8. If you're a streamer and you want your entry edited or removed.

Whether you are a member of StreamerHomes or not, you may request the following at any time, for any reason:

• Removal of your entry from the leaderboard.
• Correction of your displayed username, score, or video list.
• Removal of a specific video from your entry.

Send the request through our Contact Us page with the username as shown on the leaderboard and a brief note on what you would like changed. We will act on opt-out requests promptly. We will not argue with a streamer who wants their entry taken down.

9. Important caveats.

This page describes our reasoning and the legal principles we rely on. It is not legal advice and does not establish an attorney-client relationship. Law varies by state, and specific facts can change the analysis. If you believe your rights are being violated, please contact us through the Contact Us page so we can address your concern directly, or consult an attorney.

10. References.

• U.S. Copyright Office, Circular 33: Works Not Protected by Copyright
• Smith v. Daily Mail Publishing Co., 443 U.S. 97 (1979).
• Bartnicki v. Vopper, 532 U.S. 514 (2001).
• C.B.C. Distribution & Marketing, Inc. v. Major League Baseball Advanced Media, L.P., 505 F.3d 818 (8th Cir. 2007).
• Gionfriddo v. Major League Baseball, 94 Cal. App. 4th 400 (2001).
• Cardtoons, L.C. v. Major League Baseball Players Ass'n, 95 F.3d 959 (10th Cir. 1996).
• YouTube Terms of Service, in particular Section 4.
• StreamerHomes Disclaimer — embedding rights, in greater detail.

Questions about HiScores or this disclaimer? Reach us through our Contact Us page.