If I own a fan site for a video game. How do I use art and screen grabs for that game on my site without getting into trouble? I have created many sports and travel sites in the past and always go to great lengths to ensure the images and photos are licensed. I will either purchase stock photos or embed the photos from sites which the owner posted them on. In the case of video games it is different, as the source is always the same, and there is no obvious way to licence content. When sites like gamespot or IGN use video game art or screen grabs, do they pay for them? There are thousands of YouTube and Twitch channels using content from these games. How does that work? Does YouTube pay royalties?
To be perfectly safe on this topic, you could approach the game developers and tell them that you are starting a fan site and would like to use some graphics from their games. They would likely give you permission to do so, because your site would be promoting their products for free. Of course, they might want to be sure that you are not doing anything that would tarnish their brand, but once you get past that issue, they should be happy to help, in fact.
I did check the TOS - it was the first place I looked - but could not find a clear answer there. This is certainly a very professional approach. I was hoping for an easier way about it The website I purchased for this was a turn-key site promising minimal effort. The instructions for finding images for the slider was "anything on Google will do". It didn't seem right, but I thought I'd ask on here just to be sure. If anyone has any additional knowledge on the topic please share.
A screenshot of a video game sounds like a situation of fair use. http://libguides.mit.edu/usingimages https://www.lib.umn.edu/copyright/fairuse You are not selling the image or making items depicting the image. You are only using a small portion of the whole and doing so for purposes of discussion. And your use has no negative revenue impact on the video game maker. Fair use. If you were to take a screen grab of a video game then print it on t-shirts for sale, that would be copyright infringement. Taking a few screen grabs for discussion, review, or commentary will be considered fair use.
You are right, this is the "hard" way to do it. However, also consider that you simultaneously will be beginning a "relationship" with the manufacturer that could lead to bigger and better things. For example, what if they gave you insight into future plans, or shared other valuable information with you (assuming that they like what you are doing, of course?) They might even become a potential customer if you ever want to sell the site. Certainly, they could become sponsors/advertisers at some point. Sometimes the "hard" way is actually the easiest way when you look at the total potential of outcomes.