Gaming Content and Copyrighted Material

[michael_bc]

I’ve got a question for anyone familiar with copyright on Fiverr.

I would like to create a gig offering original articles to gaming sites. These articles would consist of written analysis, reviews, listicles… that sort of thing. However, when I look at Fiverr’s copyright policies, I run into a massive problem: copyrighted material.

This is my problem: if I were to write an article for someone about a specific game or franchise, my buyer (and their audience) would likely expect some sort of image to illustrate the experience. I could take my own screenshots from my own gaming setup, but that doesn’t seem to keep it from being a form of copyright infringement. I don’t own the game or franchise, and I doubt a company like Nintendo or Sony is going give me, a fledgling Fiverr seller, express permission to take screenshots of their games. From that angle, taking my own screenshots doesn’t seem to be an option.

However, any other kind of image I can think of runs into similar problems. I could use fanart with the artist’s expression permission, but they don’t own the copyright either. I could use official artwork or screenshots released by the company to promote their game, but even if it’s meant to be shared online, it’s still their copyrighted material.

That leaves me with nothing but stock images. They definitely seem like the safest option to use from a copyright perspective. However, not only is their selection of gaming images seriously lacking, but a lot of them still feature copyrighted material in some form or fashion. One site I was recommended had actual character sprites taken from a copyrighted game and all of the sites featured copyrighted logos and products.

I’m pretty new to all of this, so maybe I just misunderstood things. It certainly seems that others in my niche aren’t afraid to use copyrighted material in their gig thumbnails. Is gaming content just not allowed on Fiverr due to copyright? Will I be banned or penalized if I write an article for someone and they stuff a picture of Mario into it? Is there some source of safe-to-use gaming images I’m just not aware of? If there is, I’d be grateful if you let me know.