Protecting Our Creators & Users with New Compliance Guidelines
Greetings Creators!
As many of you are aware, new MasterCard compliance regulations are requiring that all additional performers in your videos be documented and identified. We are pleased to announce that we’re finally rolling-out the new functionality.
Starting today and going forward, additional performers in all uploaded videos need to be listed, identified, and documented. All additional performer ID’s must be uploaded before new videos can go live. These new MasterCard regulations are currently set to take effect at the end of October, but we wanted to get a head start so everyone can get acquainted with the new functionality.
IMPORTANT: The ID documents and release forms are only required when there are additional performers or you are not featured in the content (as is the case with many AP Studios accounts). If you are a solo performer, it’s a matter of checking off 3 boxes and voila! You’re done.
We will be playing by ear to some degree with regard to legacy content, but currently we have enabled creators to add appropriate paperwork and documentation to all pre-existing titles in their catalogs, and we recommend that you complete them before November 1st just to be on the safe side.
Until November 1st, all undocumented legacy content will be allowed to remain on the site, and we will keep everyone well informed of our plans.
We do realize that this all seems rather redundant, given that we have always required all AP creators to verify that they are the copyright holders and 2257 custodians of records for all content they upload to the AP platform, and already possess the paperwork and documentation required by federal law. But there’s not much to be done when our billing companies lay down a major mandate like this ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, so it’s in everyone’s interest to be in full compliance. All the other platforms we know of have implemented the same compliance functions, and we’ve done our best to make them as easy and manageable as possible here at APClips ?.
You’ll all see the new changes to the content check-in forms, so please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or concerns.
Some of your most common questions we’ve received about these new changes are below …
What about my own solo videos?
Since we already have your ID on file, you will not be required to upload additional documents or ID photos for content in which you, the uploader, are the only performer.
What if I don’t have consent & release docs?
We have provided you a compliant consent & release PDF for you to email to your performer(s), or print out and have them sign, available on the Performer Docs page. You can use any number of various iOS and Android apps on your phone to scan a signed document as a PDF, or you can simply upload the digitally-signed PDF if you don’t have access to a printer.
If you cannot provide a consent & release doc for a given video, it may be removed from our platform for non-compliance.
What if I perform with the same small number of performers?
When providing IDs, you will be able to select from performers that you have uploaded IDs for in the past. However, you will still need consent & release docs for every additional performer, for each video.
What if my co-performer is also an APClips Creator, can I tag them?
That is a feature that is being worked on. We wanted to get this first version out as quickly as we could so you can plan for the future. When we add the ability to tag co-performers who are on APClips, we will make a separate announcement.
What if all (or most) of my videos are my own solo videos?
If all of your videos have only you as the performer, you can email support@apclips.com to apply for Solo Video Exception and we will review your case. If everything checks out, we can approve all previously uploaded clips for you.
You can also manually review only the videos which feature performers other than yourself, and then apply for Solo Video Exception for the remainder, to save you some time.
You will still need to complete the performer docs form for every future upload (which should only take you a few seconds for solo videos).
I have so many other questions!
Please reach out to us : support@apclips.com and ask whatever questions you may have. It will help us improve documents like this.