zircon

The NES Classic hype hasn't stopped so I'm not sure where you're getting the "and then realized..." bit. Clearly people have a a huge soft spot for nostalgia, especially people who don't want to deal with emulators or don't know what they are. There's a reason why plug-and-play systems have endured for years and why people flock to stuff like the Retro Duo, Trio, RetroN-5 etc. They want to play retro games and don't want to deal with emulators, carts and hardware limitations.
Sony's PSN service has been extraordinarily successful. But Nintendo's back catalog is even better, IMO. Throw a dart at a "Top 50 Games of All Time" list and you're likely to hit a classic Nintendo game (NES, SNES, GB, N64). They can and should still offer individual titles for purchase on the VC. However a streaming subscription service is something consumers will eat up and makes for the best value proposition.
Imagine if that was part of the Switch launch! Instead of getting 1 game, for 1 month only, you get access to hundreds of games - "Only on Switch with Online Premium" (or whatever they want to call it). I guarantee people would go for it just like they went for those other things I mentioned.

I think Nintendo made a big mistake on slotting Breath of the Wild for WiiU as well as Switch. There are definitely people (myself included!) that have a WiiU and would prefer to just wait on the Switch for more games to come out. But it's better for the Switch and Nintendo if people adopt it early, which fuels 3rd party developer interest, which fuels more games... etc. By releasing BotW for WiiU, some % of people will just get it for that, and wait on the Switch, when really that should have been the awesome new launch title.
The other thing is that Nintendo has not only been shooting themselves in the foot with the virtual console and new proposed online service, but blowing the entire leg off. Plenty of commentators have said this but it bears repeating: Nintendo has one of the greatest game catalogs of any developer/publisher. Just look at all the hype for the NES classic. Now imagine if they said hey, for $10/mo you get access to all VC NES and SNES games, Netflix style. For $15/mo, you get N64 too. They would be printing money. I'd sign up for it without a second thought. To see them propose $10/mo for online play and a single game is ludicrous. 

I think Nintendo made a big mistake on slotting Breath of the Wild for WiiU as well as Switch. There are definitely people (myself included!) that have a WiiU and would prefer to just wait on the Switch for more games to come out. But it's better for the Switch and Nintendo if people adopt it early, which fuels 3rd party developer interest, which fuels more games... etc. By releasing BotW for WiiU, some % of people will just get it for that, and wait on the Switch, when really that should have been the awesome new launch title.
The other thing is that Nintendo has not only been shooting themselves in the foot with the virtual console and new proposed online service, but blowing the entire leg off. Plenty of commentators have said this but it bears repeating: Nintendo has one of the greatest game catalogs of any developer/publisher. Just look at all the hype for the NES classic. Now imagine if they said hey, for $10/mo you get access to all VC NES and SNES games, Netflix style. For $15/mo, you get N64 too. They would be printing money. I'd sign up for it without a second thought. To see them propose $10/mo for online play and a single game is ludicrous. 

New build today! This one is huge. Since my last update here in November the game looks better, has way fewer bugs, way more content, more quality of life features and options... it's just way better. So your feedback is greatly appreciated! Play for free!

Tangledeep is now on Kickstarter! 
We're raising money for extra animation polish like walking & attacking animations, plus special guest composers like Hiroki Kikuta (Secret of Mana / Seiken Densetsu 3) who is already onboard!!! If you want to get access to pre-release builds after April, get the digital soundtrack, Steam key, or immortalize yourself in the game, check out the campaign!
WHAT'S TANGLEDEEP
It's a 16-bit, FF/Square-inspired dungeon crawler. A true roguelike that takes inspiration from classic western games and JRPGs alike. Tactical turn-based combat, procedural generation, deep customization, lots and lots of loot, and monsters to battle. I've been working on this for over a year now and I'm about 40% done - your feedback is appreciated! The game is playable on Mac and PC right now, but eventually will be on Linux and possibly consoles/mobile too.
I'm doing all the code & design for the game (along with music, of course) while @OA is doing beautiful UI, environments and tiles, and a couple other artists doing characters, battle FX, and items. We're hoping to release the game by the end of the year!
As of now, though the game is definitely shaping up, it's still pre-alpha with some placeholder art and lots of content yet to be made (and balancing to be done).
Tangledeep Discord: https://discord.gg/4q5kjUm
Bug Tracker: http://git.impactsoundworks.com:617/isworks-andrew/tangledeep/issues
Twitter Dev: http://twitter.com/tangledeepgame
Full Dev / Change Log: https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=57600.0
WIN: http://tangledeep.com/builds/Tangledeep-LatestWinBuild.rar
OSX: http://tangledeep.com/builds/Tangledeep-LatestOSXBuild.zip
Today we have a wide spread of new art, polish, bug fixes, balance tweaks, and content. The biggest game experience changes are that you now start in the town, and you now have a permanent 'town portal' item that can be used anytime to return to town. You can then take a portal back to where you were. We're also experimenting with walking sprites - starting with the Hunter - which look pretty amazing, in my opinion! 

The current cast of characters, monsters and NPCs. Some new art + palette improvements here!

A snapshot of the world as it looks now. Improved grass, trees, better lighting, better fog of war.

Walking animation!?
 

New build today! This one is huge. Since my last update here in November the game looks better, has way fewer bugs, way more content, more quality of life features and options... it's just way better. So your feedback is greatly appreciated! Play for free!

We can do licensing, but we're only looking for arrangements of video game music and not popular music, film, tv, etc. 

My first and last track of 2016, featuring a solo by Mr. Sixto Sounds. Really enjoyed making this and I couldn't be happier with how it came out. Here's to a music filled 2017.
 

I think an N64 or PS1 *style* expansion (maybe SAC 2?) would be cool, much like how we approached SNES. Licensing is also more of a possibility given that the publishers involved in that era are more likely to be around. I get what you're talking about - sounds that are real-ish but still fake... kind of. It's charming!
But in terms of immediate plans, retro PC systems are next in line

The downloads slowing down is a browser/computer/ISP thing... Or possibly hard drive. Our servers are the same ones used by Steam (highwinds) so they SHOULD be pretty fast.

I think an N64 or PS1 *style* expansion (maybe SAC 2?) would be cool, much like how we approached SNES. Licensing is also more of a possibility given that the publishers involved in that era are more likely to be around. I get what you're talking about - sounds that are real-ish but still fake... kind of. It's charming!
But in terms of immediate plans, retro PC systems are next in line

My first and last track of 2016, featuring a solo by Mr. Sixto Sounds. Really enjoyed making this and I couldn't be happier with how it came out. Here's to a music filled 2017.
 

Tangledeep is now on Kickstarter! 
We're raising money for extra animation polish like walking & attacking animations, plus special guest composers like Hiroki Kikuta (Secret of Mana / Seiken Densetsu 3) who is already onboard!!! If you want to get access to pre-release builds after April, get the digital soundtrack, Steam key, or immortalize yourself in the game, check out the campaign!
WHAT'S TANGLEDEEP
It's a 16-bit, FF/Square-inspired dungeon crawler. A true roguelike that takes inspiration from classic western games and JRPGs alike. Tactical turn-based combat, procedural generation, deep customization, lots and lots of loot, and monsters to battle. I've been working on this for over a year now and I'm about 40% done - your feedback is appreciated! The game is playable on Mac and PC right now, but eventually will be on Linux and possibly consoles/mobile too.
I'm doing all the code & design for the game (along with music, of course) while @OA is doing beautiful UI, environments and tiles, and a couple other artists doing characters, battle FX, and items. We're hoping to release the game by the end of the year!
As of now, though the game is definitely shaping up, it's still pre-alpha with some placeholder art and lots of content yet to be made (and balancing to be done).
Tangledeep Discord: https://discord.gg/4q5kjUm
Bug Tracker: http://git.impactsoundworks.com:617/isworks-andrew/tangledeep/issues
Twitter Dev: http://twitter.com/tangledeepgame
Full Dev / Change Log: https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=57600.0
WIN: http://tangledeep.com/builds/Tangledeep-LatestWinBuild.rar
OSX: http://tangledeep.com/builds/Tangledeep-LatestOSXBuild.zip
Today we have a wide spread of new art, polish, bug fixes, balance tweaks, and content. The biggest game experience changes are that you now start in the town, and you now have a permanent 'town portal' item that can be used anytime to return to town. You can then take a portal back to where you were. We're also experimenting with walking sprites - starting with the Hunter - which look pretty amazing, in my opinion! 

The current cast of characters, monsters and NPCs. Some new art + palette improvements here!

A snapshot of the world as it looks now. Improved grass, trees, better lighting, better fog of war.

Walking animation!?
 

Tangledeep is now on Kickstarter! 
We're raising money for extra animation polish like walking & attacking animations, plus special guest composers like Hiroki Kikuta (Secret of Mana / Seiken Densetsu 3) who is already onboard!!! If you want to get access to pre-release builds after April, get the digital soundtrack, Steam key, or immortalize yourself in the game, check out the campaign!
WHAT'S TANGLEDEEP
It's a 16-bit, FF/Square-inspired dungeon crawler. A true roguelike that takes inspiration from classic western games and JRPGs alike. Tactical turn-based combat, procedural generation, deep customization, lots and lots of loot, and monsters to battle. I've been working on this for over a year now and I'm about 40% done - your feedback is appreciated! The game is playable on Mac and PC right now, but eventually will be on Linux and possibly consoles/mobile too.
I'm doing all the code & design for the game (along with music, of course) while @OA is doing beautiful UI, environments and tiles, and a couple other artists doing characters, battle FX, and items. We're hoping to release the game by the end of the year!
As of now, though the game is definitely shaping up, it's still pre-alpha with some placeholder art and lots of content yet to be made (and balancing to be done).
Tangledeep Discord: https://discord.gg/4q5kjUm
Bug Tracker: http://git.impactsoundworks.com:617/isworks-andrew/tangledeep/issues
Twitter Dev: http://twitter.com/tangledeepgame
Full Dev / Change Log: https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=57600.0
WIN: http://tangledeep.com/builds/Tangledeep-LatestWinBuild.rar
OSX: http://tangledeep.com/builds/Tangledeep-LatestOSXBuild.zip
Today we have a wide spread of new art, polish, bug fixes, balance tweaks, and content. The biggest game experience changes are that you now start in the town, and you now have a permanent 'town portal' item that can be used anytime to return to town. You can then take a portal back to where you were. We're also experimenting with walking sprites - starting with the Hunter - which look pretty amazing, in my opinion! 

The current cast of characters, monsters and NPCs. Some new art + palette improvements here!

A snapshot of the world as it looks now. Improved grass, trees, better lighting, better fog of war.

Walking animation!?
 

Tangledeep is now on Kickstarter! 
We're raising money for extra animation polish like walking & attacking animations, plus special guest composers like Hiroki Kikuta (Secret of Mana / Seiken Densetsu 3) who is already onboard!!! If you want to get access to pre-release builds after April, get the digital soundtrack, Steam key, or immortalize yourself in the game, check out the campaign!
WHAT'S TANGLEDEEP
It's a 16-bit, FF/Square-inspired dungeon crawler. A true roguelike that takes inspiration from classic western games and JRPGs alike. Tactical turn-based combat, procedural generation, deep customization, lots and lots of loot, and monsters to battle. I've been working on this for over a year now and I'm about 40% done - your feedback is appreciated! The game is playable on Mac and PC right now, but eventually will be on Linux and possibly consoles/mobile too.
I'm doing all the code & design for the game (along with music, of course) while @OA is doing beautiful UI, environments and tiles, and a couple other artists doing characters, battle FX, and items. We're hoping to release the game by the end of the year!
As of now, though the game is definitely shaping up, it's still pre-alpha with some placeholder art and lots of content yet to be made (and balancing to be done).
Tangledeep Discord: https://discord.gg/4q5kjUm
Bug Tracker: http://git.impactsoundworks.com:617/isworks-andrew/tangledeep/issues
Twitter Dev: http://twitter.com/tangledeepgame
Full Dev / Change Log: https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=57600.0
WIN: http://tangledeep.com/builds/Tangledeep-LatestWinBuild.rar
OSX: http://tangledeep.com/builds/Tangledeep-LatestOSXBuild.zip
Today we have a wide spread of new art, polish, bug fixes, balance tweaks, and content. The biggest game experience changes are that you now start in the town, and you now have a permanent 'town portal' item that can be used anytime to return to town. You can then take a portal back to where you were. We're also experimenting with walking sprites - starting with the Hunter - which look pretty amazing, in my opinion! 

The current cast of characters, monsters and NPCs. Some new art + palette improvements here!

A snapshot of the world as it looks now. Improved grass, trees, better lighting, better fog of war.

Walking animation!?
 

Tangledeep is now on Kickstarter! 
We're raising money for extra animation polish like walking & attacking animations, plus special guest composers like Hiroki Kikuta (Secret of Mana / Seiken Densetsu 3) who is already onboard!!! If you want to get access to pre-release builds after April, get the digital soundtrack, Steam key, or immortalize yourself in the game, check out the campaign!
WHAT'S TANGLEDEEP
It's a 16-bit, FF/Square-inspired dungeon crawler. A true roguelike that takes inspiration from classic western games and JRPGs alike. Tactical turn-based combat, procedural generation, deep customization, lots and lots of loot, and monsters to battle. I've been working on this for over a year now and I'm about 40% done - your feedback is appreciated! The game is playable on Mac and PC right now, but eventually will be on Linux and possibly consoles/mobile too.
I'm doing all the code & design for the game (along with music, of course) while @OA is doing beautiful UI, environments and tiles, and a couple other artists doing characters, battle FX, and items. We're hoping to release the game by the end of the year!
As of now, though the game is definitely shaping up, it's still pre-alpha with some placeholder art and lots of content yet to be made (and balancing to be done).
Tangledeep Discord: https://discord.gg/4q5kjUm
Bug Tracker: http://git.impactsoundworks.com:617/isworks-andrew/tangledeep/issues
Twitter Dev: http://twitter.com/tangledeepgame
Full Dev / Change Log: https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=57600.0
WIN: http://tangledeep.com/builds/Tangledeep-LatestWinBuild.rar
OSX: http://tangledeep.com/builds/Tangledeep-LatestOSXBuild.zip
Today we have a wide spread of new art, polish, bug fixes, balance tweaks, and content. The biggest game experience changes are that you now start in the town, and you now have a permanent 'town portal' item that can be used anytime to return to town. You can then take a portal back to where you were. We're also experimenting with walking sprites - starting with the Hunter - which look pretty amazing, in my opinion! 

The current cast of characters, monsters and NPCs. Some new art + palette improvements here!

A snapshot of the world as it looks now. Improved grass, trees, better lighting, better fog of war.

Walking animation!?
 

Tangledeep is now on Kickstarter! 
We're raising money for extra animation polish like walking & attacking animations, plus special guest composers like Hiroki Kikuta (Secret of Mana / Seiken Densetsu 3) who is already onboard!!! If you want to get access to pre-release builds after April, get the digital soundtrack, Steam key, or immortalize yourself in the game, check out the campaign!
WHAT'S TANGLEDEEP
It's a 16-bit, FF/Square-inspired dungeon crawler. A true roguelike that takes inspiration from classic western games and JRPGs alike. Tactical turn-based combat, procedural generation, deep customization, lots and lots of loot, and monsters to battle. I've been working on this for over a year now and I'm about 40% done - your feedback is appreciated! The game is playable on Mac and PC right now, but eventually will be on Linux and possibly consoles/mobile too.
I'm doing all the code & design for the game (along with music, of course) while @OA is doing beautiful UI, environments and tiles, and a couple other artists doing characters, battle FX, and items. We're hoping to release the game by the end of the year!
As of now, though the game is definitely shaping up, it's still pre-alpha with some placeholder art and lots of content yet to be made (and balancing to be done).
Tangledeep Discord: https://discord.gg/4q5kjUm
Bug Tracker: http://git.impactsoundworks.com:617/isworks-andrew/tangledeep/issues
Twitter Dev: http://twitter.com/tangledeepgame
Full Dev / Change Log: https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=57600.0
WIN: http://tangledeep.com/builds/Tangledeep-LatestWinBuild.rar
OSX: http://tangledeep.com/builds/Tangledeep-LatestOSXBuild.zip
Today we have a wide spread of new art, polish, bug fixes, balance tweaks, and content. The biggest game experience changes are that you now start in the town, and you now have a permanent 'town portal' item that can be used anytime to return to town. You can then take a portal back to where you were. We're also experimenting with walking sprites - starting with the Hunter - which look pretty amazing, in my opinion! 

The current cast of characters, monsters and NPCs. Some new art + palette improvements here!

A snapshot of the world as it looks now. Improved grass, trees, better lighting, better fog of war.

Walking animation!?
 

Tangledeep is now on Kickstarter! 
We're raising money for extra animation polish like walking & attacking animations, plus special guest composers like Hiroki Kikuta (Secret of Mana / Seiken Densetsu 3) who is already onboard!!! If you want to get access to pre-release builds after April, get the digital soundtrack, Steam key, or immortalize yourself in the game, check out the campaign!
WHAT'S TANGLEDEEP
It's a 16-bit, FF/Square-inspired dungeon crawler. A true roguelike that takes inspiration from classic western games and JRPGs alike. Tactical turn-based combat, procedural generation, deep customization, lots and lots of loot, and monsters to battle. I've been working on this for over a year now and I'm about 40% done - your feedback is appreciated! The game is playable on Mac and PC right now, but eventually will be on Linux and possibly consoles/mobile too.
I'm doing all the code & design for the game (along with music, of course) while @OA is doing beautiful UI, environments and tiles, and a couple other artists doing characters, battle FX, and items. We're hoping to release the game by the end of the year!
As of now, though the game is definitely shaping up, it's still pre-alpha with some placeholder art and lots of content yet to be made (and balancing to be done).
Tangledeep Discord: https://discord.gg/4q5kjUm
Bug Tracker: http://git.impactsoundworks.com:617/isworks-andrew/tangledeep/issues
Twitter Dev: http://twitter.com/tangledeepgame
Full Dev / Change Log: https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=57600.0
WIN: http://tangledeep.com/builds/Tangledeep-LatestWinBuild.rar
OSX: http://tangledeep.com/builds/Tangledeep-LatestOSXBuild.zip
Today we have a wide spread of new art, polish, bug fixes, balance tweaks, and content. The biggest game experience changes are that you now start in the town, and you now have a permanent 'town portal' item that can be used anytime to return to town. You can then take a portal back to where you were. We're also experimenting with walking sprites - starting with the Hunter - which look pretty amazing, in my opinion! 

The current cast of characters, monsters and NPCs. Some new art + palette improvements here!

A snapshot of the world as it looks now. Improved grass, trees, better lighting, better fog of war.

Walking animation!?
 

Tangledeep is now on Kickstarter! 
We're raising money for extra animation polish like walking & attacking animations, plus special guest composers like Hiroki Kikuta (Secret of Mana / Seiken Densetsu 3) who is already onboard!!! If you want to get access to pre-release builds after April, get the digital soundtrack, Steam key, or immortalize yourself in the game, check out the campaign!
WHAT'S TANGLEDEEP
It's a 16-bit, FF/Square-inspired dungeon crawler. A true roguelike that takes inspiration from classic western games and JRPGs alike. Tactical turn-based combat, procedural generation, deep customization, lots and lots of loot, and monsters to battle. I've been working on this for over a year now and I'm about 40% done - your feedback is appreciated! The game is playable on Mac and PC right now, but eventually will be on Linux and possibly consoles/mobile too.
I'm doing all the code & design for the game (along with music, of course) while @OA is doing beautiful UI, environments and tiles, and a couple other artists doing characters, battle FX, and items. We're hoping to release the game by the end of the year!
As of now, though the game is definitely shaping up, it's still pre-alpha with some placeholder art and lots of content yet to be made (and balancing to be done).
Tangledeep Discord: https://discord.gg/4q5kjUm
Bug Tracker: http://git.impactsoundworks.com:617/isworks-andrew/tangledeep/issues
Twitter Dev: http://twitter.com/tangledeepgame
Full Dev / Change Log: https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=57600.0
WIN: http://tangledeep.com/builds/Tangledeep-LatestWinBuild.rar
OSX: http://tangledeep.com/builds/Tangledeep-LatestOSXBuild.zip
Today we have a wide spread of new art, polish, bug fixes, balance tweaks, and content. The biggest game experience changes are that you now start in the town, and you now have a permanent 'town portal' item that can be used anytime to return to town. You can then take a portal back to where you were. We're also experimenting with walking sprites - starting with the Hunter - which look pretty amazing, in my opinion! 

The current cast of characters, monsters and NPCs. Some new art + palette improvements here!

A snapshot of the world as it looks now. Improved grass, trees, better lighting, better fog of war.

Walking animation!?
 

Tangledeep is now on Kickstarter! 
We're raising money for extra animation polish like walking & attacking animations, plus special guest composers like Hiroki Kikuta (Secret of Mana / Seiken Densetsu 3) who is already onboard!!! If you want to get access to pre-release builds after April, get the digital soundtrack, Steam key, or immortalize yourself in the game, check out the campaign!
WHAT'S TANGLEDEEP
It's a 16-bit, FF/Square-inspired dungeon crawler. A true roguelike that takes inspiration from classic western games and JRPGs alike. Tactical turn-based combat, procedural generation, deep customization, lots and lots of loot, and monsters to battle. I've been working on this for over a year now and I'm about 40% done - your feedback is appreciated! The game is playable on Mac and PC right now, but eventually will be on Linux and possibly consoles/mobile too.
I'm doing all the code & design for the game (along with music, of course) while @OA is doing beautiful UI, environments and tiles, and a couple other artists doing characters, battle FX, and items. We're hoping to release the game by the end of the year!
As of now, though the game is definitely shaping up, it's still pre-alpha with some placeholder art and lots of content yet to be made (and balancing to be done).
Tangledeep Discord: https://discord.gg/4q5kjUm
Bug Tracker: http://git.impactsoundworks.com:617/isworks-andrew/tangledeep/issues
Twitter Dev: http://twitter.com/tangledeepgame
Full Dev / Change Log: https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=57600.0
WIN: http://tangledeep.com/builds/Tangledeep-LatestWinBuild.rar
OSX: http://tangledeep.com/builds/Tangledeep-LatestOSXBuild.zip
Today we have a wide spread of new art, polish, bug fixes, balance tweaks, and content. The biggest game experience changes are that you now start in the town, and you now have a permanent 'town portal' item that can be used anytime to return to town. You can then take a portal back to where you were. We're also experimenting with walking sprites - starting with the Hunter - which look pretty amazing, in my opinion! 

The current cast of characters, monsters and NPCs. Some new art + palette improvements here!

A snapshot of the world as it looks now. Improved grass, trees, better lighting, better fog of war.

Walking animation!?
 

The purpose of this thread is to give people a clear idea of how OCR operates, how revenue is generated (and where that revenue goes), and the relationship between OCR, its operations, and the people that contribute to it.

Is content on OCR licensed?

No. We do not license the ReMixes distributed on our site (and through channels like YouTube). (There is one exception, which is described below.)

Why aren't the remixes licensed?

It's simply impossible to do this for several reasons.

1. Mechanical licensing via the compulsory licensing permission (the one that does not require publisher permission) requires that the source material be published commercially in the United States prior to licensing. Many remixes on the site are of source material never released in soundtrack form in the US, therefore they cannot be licensed.

2. Even if the music could be licensed, since OCR is founded on the concept of distributing music for free, it would be impossible to support the massive licensing costs necessary for all remixes on the site. To use some napkin math: assume 3400 remixes are each downloaded 100 times per month, which is a gross under-estimate. At 9.1 cents per copy downloaded, this would require licensing fees of over $30,000 a month - for downloads alone.
3. No established license mechanism could cover free downloads of MP3s and ad-supported streaming. Compulsory mechanical licensing only covers downloadable copies; as a result, custom licensing agreements would need to be made with every publisher (which they could simply reject, unlike a compulsory license.)

For total emphasis, there is no conceivable way that the content on OCR could be licensed, and especially not while remaining compatible with the site goal of distributing free music.

Does that mean OCR is illegal or infringing copyright?

By default, any use of copyrighted material without express permission of the copyright holder is considered infringement. However, US copyright law makes provisions for "fair use" of copyrighted material as a defense to infringement in a court of law. Fair use is the legal principle that allows for things like educational usage, commentary, parody, and satire, among other uses. While fair use cannot be established except in a court of law, and there are no strict guidelines allowing anyone to decide whether a use is fair or not outside of the court system, it's possible to make an educated guess as to whether a use is fair or not.

This educated guess is based on an evaluation of the factors evaluated for determining fair use, and precedent. The biggest of these factors are whether a work is transformative, and whether it is 'commercial'. These are both loose and nebulous terms, but that being said, our strongly-held belief (reinforced by the belief of consulted legal counsel) is that OCR's distribution of fan-created arrangements for non-commercial educational purposes is fair use. This has been discussed at length in other posts but suffice it to say that when analyzing all these factors, we've made a very strong case for this if a court case were ever to happen.
Isn't it worse to upload music to YouTube, especially if it's monetized?
No. If fair use applies to OCR's activities, it would certainly extend to YouTube. If it doesn't apply, then the site's current activities (on and off YouTube) would be considered infringement, in which case it's a moot point.
YouTube is actually a better place to address issues of infringement than elsewhere, because Google provides content creators with several tools: the ability to claim a video (which grants the publisher/claimaint all further revenue from the video) or issue a takedown. Both of these would not entangle either party in the court system, as Google/YouTube mediates any disputes, avoiding a costly legal battle. In short, we'd much rather defend ourselves to YouTube, ON YouTube, with the assistance of YouTube specialists who have extensive experience in copyright disputes.
Also, keep in mind that on YouTube (and off), a creator can claim infringement regardless of whether someone is generating revenue from a work or not. My own personal experience with YouTube claims and takedowns has exclusively been with un-monetized videos. In short, if a publisher took issue with OCR, not running YouTube ads would not protect us in any way.
Does OCR generate revenue from its content?

Yes. Since the early 2000s, ocremix.org has run ads throughout the site. Other revenue is generated from sales of OCR merchandise (not music; music on the site is not sold commercially) such as t-shirts and hoodies. Within the last few years, OCR launched a Patreon page which also generates revenue. Ads were also enabled on <1% of videos on OCR's YouTube channel from June-August 2016 for testing purposes, which has also generated a small amount of revenue. Until OCR officially becomes a registered non-profit organization, and YouTube ads are discussed further with the community, YouTube ads will only be served on the videos of ReMixers who have given OCR their explicit permission.

Why does OCR need to generate revenue?

OCR as a website has technical costs, such as the cost of a dedicated server, mirrors, and bandwidth. These expenses are necessary for the basic operation of the site. Revenue is also needed to create promotional materials for the site: that includes merchandise like t-shirts and hoodies, as well as strictly-promotional physical copies of album projects. (These promotional physical albums are not sold, and the content on them is available for free on ocremix.org. They are given away at conventions). OCR has also been attending conventions such as Otakon, MAGFest, and PAX (among any others) to evangelize video game music, promote recent album releases, and give away free stuff. Expenses directly related to OCR panels at these conventions (such as technical equipment needed for panels) are sometimes covered by OCR as an organization.

There are also many plans for the organization that require revenue to achieve. For example, the OCR YouTube video template has not been updated in many years and looks dated. We're in the process of commissioning custom visualization software to produce better-looking videos strictly for the enjoyment of viewers and fans. Also, we're looking to obtain true non-profit organization status, which we believe will take a substantial amount of money to file and maintain properly.

Where does surplus revenue go?

For a long time, there was no surplus revenue. Expenses were often paid out of pocket by Dave and other staff. Now that revenue is exceeding expenses, the revenue... isn't going anywhere. It's staying in OCR's accounts until it is used for purposes like those described above. The aforementioned non-profit filing process will likely take most if not all saved money.

So is OCR a non-profit organization?
From our submission agreement: OCR legally cannot distribute submitted materials for for-profit endeavors. Furthermore, OCR is legally bound to spend any revenue on costs directly associated with operation and promotion of OverClocked ReMix.
However, OCR as an entity does not have true non-profit status - 501(c)(3) - which is why achieving that official status is a major goal.
Are any ReMixers or site staff paid for their work?

No. Nobody has been paid for their work contributing to the site either as a remixer, staff member, or administrator, djp included.
(Fine print: OCR has released one commercial album, For Everlasting Peace: 25 Years of Mega Man, as an officially licensed release in partnership with Capcom, with Capcom retaining ownership of the music. ReMixers were paid for this release, which was licensed directly with the publisher. This music is not available on the site and was not submitted through the normal channels, so it's an outlier.)
Will ReMixers ever be paid?
Not for regular submissions to the site, which are distributed for free. Not only would the logistical overhead be unmanageable, but it would invalidate our fair use case, as it would be impossible to justify those payments as necessary to the direct operation of the site as a non-profit entity. However, we'll continue to explore separate licensed projects like MM25, or officially licensed commercial albums through our sister site OverClocked Records. We view these as separate from the core work that OCR does: distributing and evangelizing free music.
Will site staff ever be paid?
There is absolutely no plan to do this, nor has it been seriously discussed among site staff in all years of operation. It's conceivable that it could happen someday, after 501(c)(3) status is achieved and we're complying with all regulations for transparency, corporate bylaws, etc. djpretzel wants there to be a plan for the site should anything ever happen to him, and operating a 501(c)(3) will require more administrative duties for things like bookkeeping and accounting. Again, if it were to ever happen, it would be executed properly to the letter as per federal guidelines for non-profit organizations and in full compliance with our own legally binding submission agreement.
Is there anything to prevent revenue from being distributed as profit to staff now?!

Of course. Just because OCR is not a 501(c)(3) yet does not mean our submission agreement isn't legally binding: it is. And that agreement, which applies to OCR as an organization, strictly limits how revenue can be used. Again, site staff have never been paid nor are there any plans to do so.

Opting in.

Have to include some new stuff from Brandon that continues to assume the worst about how OCR is run, including the belief that mixes from popular games were posted in order to maximize YouTube revenue (ignoring all the less popular games we posted mixes from). I want to be sure people can see these accusations. My responses below:
Sagnewshreds, on 15 Aug 2016 - 01:46 AM, said:
Need to be clear that Brandon wasn't blamed for "misrepresenting" the situation, as if it were just a difference of opinion. Despite pages of discussion and details, he's continued with over-the-top conspiracy theories, fake claims of evidence, and conclusions in bad faith that were literally libel. We believe the Content Policy gives OCR the permission to republish the mixes on other sites and present advertising in the context of the submitted materials, that fair use allows us to do this without licensing the music, with the revenue going to OC ReMix as an organization and that all revenue is disallowed from being used for profit. He doesn't agree with that point of view, and that should have been the focus of his issues. But negative concerns weren't brushed aside as he claims, and Brandon wasn't the only person who shared them. He also claims there were no apologies and that no commitment was made to transparency and legality. People can read through this thread and see all of the back-and-forth. Everything brought up was addressed. I will say that Brandon is very good at projection, since demonizing people, being disrespectful, and displaying a lack of trust & goodwill are things he was great at in this discussion.
One thing not mentioned before is that enabling YouTube ads increases the search ranking of the content, the same way that enabling ratings does. Back when we started the YT channel, we actually disabled ratings for everything to match how we didn't do polling or ratings of the mixes. It turned out that disabling ratings made YouTube reduce the visibility of the videos. But enabling those things makes YouTube increase their visibility, so we're trying to get the mixes heard by more people. That may explain why the SM64 mix, which was the first one with monetization turned on, received greater views; YouTube actually gives more weight in discoverability to content that's monetized and allows ratings.
That said, I'm the sole person that decides mixpost order these days (because I'm tagging them up and staging them), and claiming that we were just posting popular mixes to maximize YouTube revenue is silly and needlessly overthinking things. Sagnewshreds called your suspicions "tinfoilly," and he's right. For posting your Chrono Cross mix out of cycle, sometimes I do that. I just noticed you hadn't had a mix posted in about a month and didn't know you had anything else waiting besides some tracks on the FF9 project that were going to be posted on 9/9.

We can't state enough how we're not actually motivated by money and don't profit, but in any case, in the 2 month period where ads were enabled on 43 out of 3,000+ videos, we also had mixes from Gradius Gaiden, Jazz Jackrabbit 2, Yoshi Touch & Go, Skylanders, ilomilo, To the Moon (yours), Global Gladiators, Lufia II, Rollerball, Alex Kidd in Miracle World, Tyrian, Vectorman, After Burner, and R-Type for the C64.

Have to say this over and over again: we don't care what game something is from. At all. It doesn't change how we evaluate anything. If the submission is creative and interpretive enough with the arrangement, and produced well enough, we'll post it. We don't post stuff from certain games to boost ad revenue or social media metrics or whatever. Also, all ads were off since the 14th, including when that Chrono Trigger album trailer went up (plus we had already decided not to monetize trailers (which is why you yourself noticed the Esther's Dreams trailer wasn't monetized). Brandon's also saying that even BEFORE YouTube monetization, we were ALREADY strategically weighting mixposts to heavily popular games. This is despite publishing an album from him for the super-obscure game Teen Agent.

As I've said many times, we don't pick what games are mixed, the ReMixers do. And it almost goes without saying that Chrono Trigger or Mega Man 2 or Final Fantasy VII is more of a nostalgia and popularity draw among the ReMixers themselves, which is why they arrange those games more than others. We don't control that or try to steer anything in that direction. If OCR could have 1,000+ more Tim Follin arrangements, that would be awesome.
The last thing I'd say is that I don't know why Brandon put up a poll on keeping his mixes up on OCR. It's very obvious that he assumes the worst about the staff, thinks we're pocketing the ad revenue, maybe buying cars or comics or anything & everything non-OCR related with it, that it's some money-making cabal, that all the staff are complicit in said cabal, and that we'd love to illegally and unethically generate YouTube revenue in the shadows and willingly anger hordes of artists. Since he's convinced it's run like that and unethical like he claims, why would a poll convince him to keep his ReMixes up?

Like I said before, no amount of transparency or actions can make Brandon believe that OCR is run honestly, ethically, above board, and without a profit motive. Weighing that, I can't imagine why or how he'd convince himself not to request removal of his mixes. Due to his overly suspicious, paranoid, and imaginative nature about all of this, I think that's inevitable.

The purpose of this thread is to give people a clear idea of how OCR operates, how revenue is generated (and where that revenue goes), and the relationship between OCR, its operations, and the people that contribute to it.

Is content on OCR licensed?

No. We do not license the ReMixes distributed on our site (and through channels like YouTube). (There is one exception, which is described below.)

Why aren't the remixes licensed?

It's simply impossible to do this for several reasons.

1. Mechanical licensing via the compulsory licensing permission (the one that does not require publisher permission) requires that the source material be published commercially in the United States prior to licensing. Many remixes on the site are of source material never released in soundtrack form in the US, therefore they cannot be licensed.

2. Even if the music could be licensed, since OCR is founded on the concept of distributing music for free, it would be impossible to support the massive licensing costs necessary for all remixes on the site. To use some napkin math: assume 3400 remixes are each downloaded 100 times per month, which is a gross under-estimate. At 9.1 cents per copy downloaded, this would require licensing fees of over $30,000 a month - for downloads alone.
3. No established license mechanism could cover free downloads of MP3s and ad-supported streaming. Compulsory mechanical licensing only covers downloadable copies; as a result, custom licensing agreements would need to be made with every publisher (which they could simply reject, unlike a compulsory license.)

For total emphasis, there is no conceivable way that the content on OCR could be licensed, and especially not while remaining compatible with the site goal of distributing free music.

Does that mean OCR is illegal or infringing copyright?

By default, any use of copyrighted material without express permission of the copyright holder is considered infringement. However, US copyright law makes provisions for "fair use" of copyrighted material as a defense to infringement in a court of law. Fair use is the legal principle that allows for things like educational usage, commentary, parody, and satire, among other uses. While fair use cannot be established except in a court of law, and there are no strict guidelines allowing anyone to decide whether a use is fair or not outside of the court system, it's possible to make an educated guess as to whether a use is fair or not.

This educated guess is based on an evaluation of the factors evaluated for determining fair use, and precedent. The biggest of these factors are whether a work is transformative, and whether it is 'commercial'. These are both loose and nebulous terms, but that being said, our strongly-held belief (reinforced by the belief of consulted legal counsel) is that OCR's distribution of fan-created arrangements for non-commercial educational purposes is fair use. This has been discussed at length in other posts but suffice it to say that when analyzing all these factors, we've made a very strong case for this if a court case were ever to happen.
Isn't it worse to upload music to YouTube, especially if it's monetized?
No. If fair use applies to OCR's activities, it would certainly extend to YouTube. If it doesn't apply, then the site's current activities (on and off YouTube) would be considered infringement, in which case it's a moot point.
YouTube is actually a better place to address issues of infringement than elsewhere, because Google provides content creators with several tools: the ability to claim a video (which grants the publisher/claimaint all further revenue from the video) or issue a takedown. Both of these would not entangle either party in the court system, as Google/YouTube mediates any disputes, avoiding a costly legal battle. In short, we'd much rather defend ourselves to YouTube, ON YouTube, with the assistance of YouTube specialists who have extensive experience in copyright disputes.
Also, keep in mind that on YouTube (and off), a creator can claim infringement regardless of whether someone is generating revenue from a work or not. My own personal experience with YouTube claims and takedowns has exclusively been with un-monetized videos. In short, if a publisher took issue with OCR, not running YouTube ads would not protect us in any way.
Does OCR generate revenue from its content?

Yes. Since the early 2000s, ocremix.org has run ads throughout the site. Other revenue is generated from sales of OCR merchandise (not music; music on the site is not sold commercially) such as t-shirts and hoodies. Within the last few years, OCR launched a Patreon page which also generates revenue. Ads were also enabled on <1% of videos on OCR's YouTube channel from June-August 2016 for testing purposes, which has also generated a small amount of revenue. Until OCR officially becomes a registered non-profit organization, and YouTube ads are discussed further with the community, YouTube ads will only be served on the videos of ReMixers who have given OCR their explicit permission.

Why does OCR need to generate revenue?

OCR as a website has technical costs, such as the cost of a dedicated server, mirrors, and bandwidth. These expenses are necessary for the basic operation of the site. Revenue is also needed to create promotional materials for the site: that includes merchandise like t-shirts and hoodies, as well as strictly-promotional physical copies of album projects. (These promotional physical albums are not sold, and the content on them is available for free on ocremix.org. They are given away at conventions). OCR has also been attending conventions such as Otakon, MAGFest, and PAX (among any others) to evangelize video game music, promote recent album releases, and give away free stuff. Expenses directly related to OCR panels at these conventions (such as technical equipment needed for panels) are sometimes covered by OCR as an organization.

There are also many plans for the organization that require revenue to achieve. For example, the OCR YouTube video template has not been updated in many years and looks dated. We're in the process of commissioning custom visualization software to produce better-looking videos strictly for the enjoyment of viewers and fans. Also, we're looking to obtain true non-profit organization status, which we believe will take a substantial amount of money to file and maintain properly.

Where does surplus revenue go?

For a long time, there was no surplus revenue. Expenses were often paid out of pocket by Dave and other staff. Now that revenue is exceeding expenses, the revenue... isn't going anywhere. It's staying in OCR's accounts until it is used for purposes like those described above. The aforementioned non-profit filing process will likely take most if not all saved money.

So is OCR a non-profit organization?
From our submission agreement: OCR legally cannot distribute submitted materials for for-profit endeavors. Furthermore, OCR is legally bound to spend any revenue on costs directly associated with operation and promotion of OverClocked ReMix.
However, OCR as an entity does not have true non-profit status - 501(c)(3) - which is why achieving that official status is a major goal.
Are any ReMixers or site staff paid for their work?

No. Nobody has been paid for their work contributing to the site either as a remixer, staff member, or administrator, djp included.
(Fine print: OCR has released one commercial album, For Everlasting Peace: 25 Years of Mega Man, as an officially licensed release in partnership with Capcom, with Capcom retaining ownership of the music. ReMixers were paid for this release, which was licensed directly with the publisher. This music is not available on the site and was not submitted through the normal channels, so it's an outlier.)
Will ReMixers ever be paid?
Not for regular submissions to the site, which are distributed for free. Not only would the logistical overhead be unmanageable, but it would invalidate our fair use case, as it would be impossible to justify those payments as necessary to the direct operation of the site as a non-profit entity. However, we'll continue to explore separate licensed projects like MM25, or officially licensed commercial albums through our sister site OverClocked Records. We view these as separate from the core work that OCR does: distributing and evangelizing free music.
Will site staff ever be paid?
There is absolutely no plan to do this, nor has it been seriously discussed among site staff in all years of operation. It's conceivable that it could happen someday, after 501(c)(3) status is achieved and we're complying with all regulations for transparency, corporate bylaws, etc. djpretzel wants there to be a plan for the site should anything ever happen to him, and operating a 501(c)(3) will require more administrative duties for things like bookkeeping and accounting. Again, if it were to ever happen, it would be executed properly to the letter as per federal guidelines for non-profit organizations and in full compliance with our own legally binding submission agreement.
Is there anything to prevent revenue from being distributed as profit to staff now?!

Of course. Just because OCR is not a 501(c)(3) yet does not mean our submission agreement isn't legally binding: it is. And that agreement, which applies to OCR as an organization, strictly limits how revenue can be used. Again, site staff have never been paid nor are there any plans to do so.

@AngelCityOutlaw is the crux of your objection that the monetization is taking place through a third party, who have their "hands in the revenue stream"? How or why is it any different than ads through Google (who take a cut) or support through Patreon (who also takes a cut)?