I'm in the process of setting up a website which contains transcripts of TV shows. I would like to place an Adsense Ad or Link unit at the bottom of each page that contains a transcript (i.e. like this page). I'm trying to figure out whether or not this would violate Adsense TOS. I sent an email to Google but got what looks like a standard copy & paste job reminding me that "ads may not be displayed on pages that do not consist of your own content or where you have not been given authorization to do so." My problem is, can these transcripts be considered "my own content" given that I have either been given authorisation to use them by the people who transcribed the show or have transcribed them myself? Or would I violate the TOS because I didn't write the dialog and don't own the characters? After typing this out, it seems to me like it would indeed be a violation of the TOS, but I remain uncertain. What do you think? Is it really as ambiguous as I seem to think it is?
It's only a "violation" if the people at LOST tells Adsense it is (i.e. file a copyright infringement suit against you), which they won't, because it's a waste of their time, and they like the free publicity you are generating for them, and transcripts do nothing to hurt their show. (Look at all the TV episode/movie spoiler sites out there). Others will argue against this, but they're just being overly cautious for absolutely no reason. The most that will happen is the LOST people (and all the other shows you transcribe) will tell you to pull what you have up, which they won't. EVER. Go for it.
I have the same issue about the link in my signature - adsense on album tracklists pages... I did some research and found billions of websites doing the same, so dont worry
Great guys, thanks! I'm persuaded I can get a high CTR by placing the Ad units at the bottom of these pages, giving the visitor somewhere to go after having read the transcript. So this is good news. Now all I have to do is experiment and whether Ad or Link units work best.