Questions about NDA

During the FE beta, we could freely post screenshots and videos of the game. I guess, it'll be the same here. No idea about the rest though.

If i interprete Frogboys answer right, there is no NDA yet. So I don't see why you have that questions at all.

If they release a NDA, those points will be answered there.

If they don't release a NDA, those questions don't need to get answered.

Frogboy's answer I quoted in my post? You're interpreting it wrong. He says "there's no NDA on discussion" which means you can talk about it. Doesn't say there's no NDA at all.

Did you sign an NDA?

If not, there's no NDA.

In reference to that post, he means you are not allowed to redistribute items found in the repository.

My big question (which I was just going to sit on till we are closer to alpha time) is streaming on systems like Twitch.TV or Hitbox.TV. Since it would be showing off the game to more people it would be great promotion, but I just want to make sure Stardock is fine with any income I get as a result of the commercials shown while I am streaming game play of their product.

I think that what Stardock doesn't want is for people to take a glance at the Alpha, decide the final product will be bad because the Alpha is incomplete and horribly buggy, and then go telling everyone that the game is terrible. While there would be many good people who would wouldn't listen to such people, many more people will probably assume that the person knows what they are talking about on the grounds that they played the Alpha.

The problem is that many people don't know what an Alpha is, and what their expectations of what one should be. Many people will assume that it is a nearly complete version of the game, but that isn't true. Really, it is a game version early enough in the development cycle that it would be relatively easy to change things now instead of much later. A Beta is heavy duty bug squishing on what should a more or less final design. Later stages would be adding polish to a release candidate (something the devs think might be a good version to release). I think I've heard some people call it the Gamma testing.

I think another problem StarDock may have is anyone else making a profit from their work. Copyright laws do apply, whether SD decides to enforce them or not (their choice). Your best bet is to ask StarDock directly, not the GC3 community at large, for each instance you propose to make money on.

Exactly my concern. Like I said, just sitting on the question till we are closer to time.

We don't do click-through NDAs. If you ever get one, you will know exactly what it entails on account of having to sign and fax it in.

fax? where is anyone going to find a fax machine in this day and age?

Work? Office copy shop? Faxes are surprisingly resilient in the business world.

(Some places also let you scan and email instead of fax.)

As far as the NDA is discussed here, I have a question too. I tried emailing Stardock directly but they never got back to me.

So will there be an NDA on say Youtube videos? I have a Youtube chanel and I plan to share this game with my viewers in a form of Let's play. I did manage to get a bunch of strategy lovers together and they are already asking me about this. So will that be possible in Alpha? Beta? Or only with the final product? In any case I am certain that (as with any other game I did) a flock of my subscribers will go and buy the product so earlier is probably better.

*please say alpha, please say alpha, please say alpha... I don't know how to resist the urge to share this game with the world already*

That's less to do about the NDA and more to do about the monetization policy of the alpha/beta. An NDA may allow you to discuss the game, however it may prohibit you from monetizing that. But if you're not monetizing your videos on your channel then you'd likely be ok as long as the NDA allows you to do that. Complicated isn't it

You may wish to make that distinction more clear when talking with Stardock.

I don't think Stardock has any official monetization policy. But I'm doubtful they'd be totally against it.

Well I tried to contact them (as mentioned I send Stardock and email) but they never got back to me with a reply. That is why I ask here hoping someone will notice me 

There's no hard information on NDA information right now.  I know in the past we haven't placed any restrictions on videos, it was always recommended to make note that the game is in an alpha/beta state and not to be presented as a final product.

Do you have any official monetization policy concerning videos as well? This seems to be a 'hot' topic with people who are streaming and want assurance that they're not going to get dinged on the other end because they used youtubes monetization API for their videos.

Generally speaking we are fine with ads on user videos, but you may not use our logos. You can just type the names/titles out. As Island Dog noted, any alphas/betas should note such and this is all subject to any particular prohibitions that may be set when prerelease versions are made available.

I will sign anything at this point, I have the 4x itch that only Galactic Civilization can satisfy.

Just to avoid any problems: It is ok when we use the GalCiv3 Logo (and other Logos) on the thumbnail for the video, isn't it?

NDA are enforced through the courts using lawyers. Outside of mega-mergers I have never heard of an NDA actually resulting in sanction of any kind. Your quote suggests that they are not using NDAs, which would be correct of them. It would be utterly absurd for a games company to get a bunch of disparate gamers from all over the world to sign a NDA for an alpha. For the simple reason that they are hardly going to start to rack up thousands in lawyers fees to bring a civil case against some 17yo kid who posted a youtube video of themselves playing an alpha. That's before you even consider all the non-US alpha backers. No body could take seriously the idea that Stardock would apply to the State Department to begin extradition proceedings against a foreign citizen who posted a youtube video of themselves playing an alpha. Its just utter fantasy. 

NDA's belong in the biggest corporate finance transactions. Sadly in my professional career I often encounter small businesses who assume pushing a NDA at me will make them look professional, it doesn't, it makes them look amateurish. Indeed, this comes up so often I have built myself a list of good articles explaining this point:

http://www.canrockventures.com/why-vcs-do-not-sign-ndas/

http://www.venturestab.com/2011/02/why-startups-shouldn%E2%80%99t-ask-investors-to-sign-ndas/

http://trevorloy.com/post/28337726679/why-flywheel-and-most-vcs-wont-sign-ndas

http://www.ibusinessangel.com/2011/08/why-i-dont-sign-ndas-usually/

http://www.danshapiro.com/blog/2012/10/what-you-probably-dont-know-about-ndas/

http://startuplawyer.com/venture-capital/why-a-vc-will-take-a-lighter-to-your-nda

http://www.feld.com/wp/archives/2006/02/why-most-vcs-dont-sign-ndas.html

http://nickpoint.co.uk/2010/09/21/startups-keep-it-secret-keep-it-safe/

http://dashes.com/anil/2010/05/one-more-time-no-ndas.html

http://www.e-financial-management.com/newsarticle.php?id=352

http://blog.roxburghmilkins.com/post/22253334699/why-loose-lips-sink-ships

http://mixergy.com/why-i-wont-sign-your-nda/

http://www.inc.com/chris-heivly/no-i-wont-sign-your-nda.html

http://humbledmba.com/startups-in-stealth-mode-need-one-piece-of-ad

If you're in the industry there are vast consequences for breaking an NDA. If you're a journalist, you can be denied access to future betas, interviews, you can be black listed for pre-release review copies for games, etc.