Hey Chris,

I have never heard of this happening in the Google Play Store but I have on the App Store. You can read another case of something similar here.

The only thing I've heard about from Google in the past was from the developer of Mizuu. Michell had Mizuu removed temporarily due to "sexually explicit" content which is pretty wild. In his case, he managed to get it re-instated.

Unfortunately, I don't have much more info to share with you. Like some of the guys on the iOS thread mentioned, Apple seemed to OK them with the mention that everything is promotional material.

Hope that gives you some insight.

Hey Travis, the error that kept getting picked up was some form of IP infringement. I changed the name, logo, promo, description, screenshots and the application was still rejected by the algorithm that scans applications on initial upload. Turns out since I wasn't able to fix it due to the extremely vague responses and no human interaction from Google, my account was suspended.

These where the types of responses I was getting, they all seem automated and vague at best and because of that I have lost my developer license for Google Play...

"We have reviewed your appeal and will not be reinstating your app. This decision is final and we will not be responding to any additional emails regarding this removal. If your account is still in good standing and the nature of your app allows for republishing you may consider releasing a new, policy compliant version of your app to Google Play under a new package name. We are unable to comment further on the specific policy basis for this removal or provide guidance on bringing future versions of your app into policy compliance. Instead, please reference the REASON FOR REMOVAL in the initial notification email from Google Play."

Same thing happened to me on November 21st 2014 when I updated the app for Lolipop/Material Design. App here: http://faactors.schilter.me and also still on Amazon

Before that, the app has been in the Play Store for almost 11 months with more than 10 updates w/o any issue

Hi. The same happened to me the last week when I updated my app on Google Play. App here https://www.facebook.com/EverMovieLibrary and also on Google Play (name Ever Movie Library). So I wrote to Google support a request to re-review the app and for an explanation why my app was removed. After two days I received an email that my app was re-instated and I can republish it. But I got no detailed explanation what exactly was wrong with my app.

I just wanted to post another story of this happening, to Mizuu (again): http://www.androidpolice.com/2015/01/09/mizuu-returns-play-store-pulled-google-something-just-asked-nicely/

Do you believe that was the problem? Google assumed I didn't have permission to use TMDb? My account was actually suspended as I assumed it was either logo, name, or screenshots and even after replacing them all the app was still rejected and I got banned. What can I send Google to try and get my account unbanned? My app isn't for commercial purposes, I built it for a university project and there are no ads or monetization of any sort.

@ckomodromos interesting, did you remove /all/ the movie-related pictures out of the screenshots? I thought about giving it a shot but since my account is still in good standing I'm hesitating since I have another app in the pipeline..

I must admit that I did add keywords to the description (I even named it that way "Keywords: favorite actors, .." because I'm stupid and didn't read the updated ToU carefully). So what I did so far and thought about doing:

• Obviously remove the 'keywords'
• No mentioning of IMDb (albeit I just mentioned that I link to it, so you can open it in the IMDb app, free incoming links, dear IMDb)
• I will keep amazon, trakt.tv, and tmdb mentioned since I'm having API keys there
• When starting the app there is a huge banner saying "powered by tmdb.org"
• Replace all pictures in preview screenshots with CC stock photos or just a solid black

@rndstr, did it worked out with the CC stock photos?

Bcos amazon tell me the same problem with the IP and after i asked them why they told me following: "Your app and/or elements of its listing on Google Play, including promotional screenshots (movie posters) must not include unauthorized usage of protected works belonging to a third party (Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures, etc)."

Do you know what else i can do?

Bests,

Alex

Well i also updated my splash logo, censored my screenshots and created a popup menue with the tmdb logo but still they wont let me pass through.

Has it worked out with your apps?

http://fs1.directupload.net/images/150715/pr5ipbnr.png

http://fs1.directupload.net/images/150715/od3zc8bd.png

i really need your help, i dont know what else i can do. I am confused, becouse other users can use the screenshots without any censored and it seems like it is ok.

Is there any certificate which i can send to google for the use of tmdb?

Bests

Alex

We just encountered a similar problem. The Google Play Team wrote "You are allowed to use the celebrity content (images) within your app, but you are not allowed to use the images as part of your store listing, including promotional screenshots. I recommend using generic images as placeholder for your promotional screenshots."

How did you guys go about using celebrity photos and movie posters in your screenshots? It is really important for us to be able to use these pictures, because they are the major part of our game.

Any help is appreciated.

@mischabendel I replaced them with single color images https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=me.schilter.faactors2 (see https://gist.github.com/rndstr/e6768fa7a6da5eec9b1af07e63418b82 for code if you use the UniversalImageLoader)

Did you just receive a warning or did they suspend your app?

We are in the process of releasing our app in beta on the Play Store and face the exact same issues. The app is automatically rejected if the screenshots feature actual movie posters. What I don't understand is that there are many apps published on the Play Store which are in the exact same situation, but Google does not seem worried about them. My guess is that they updated their copyright detector bot. I tried to write to the support team about it, but all I got was an automated response which did not make any sense. Apparently, many developers face the same issue (see this article). If anyone has more information on why some apps are allowed and others aren't, I'd be glad to hear about it.

@rndstr We just received warning/got rejected. Now the app is live with pixelated images in the screenshots, which hurts our downloads a lot I think

@WaldoJeffers one reason could be that they just didn't update the app since the new ToS. An app's listing is only checked when you publish an update

@rndstr Yes, it's probably that.

@mischabendel I agree with you. Seeing blurry screenshots (or single color blocks as a member of the Google Play support team suggested) will definitely make me think twice before downloading your app, unfortunately. The solution we came up with my team is to create fake movie posters for fake movies, in the hope that users will imagine what's it's like with real movies. Still, it is bad.

I find it hard to believe that there is nothing we can do about it. This issue is very specific (movie posters), and there is no way our users will know it's not our fault if the screenshots are not really attractive. But we are not alone in this. All developers/companies trying to publish movie-related apps seem to suffer from this ill-advised policy by Google. And all we get from their support team is automated mails. Do you think we should try to do something together, and reach out to other devs out there with the same issue ? We could try to write about it or engage in a dialogue with Google to work around this issue. I mean, it's hurting everybody : users, devs, poor Travis Bell and his team (again kudos to you for the awesome TMDb), and I'm pretty sure that movie studios would rather be pleased than angry to see their promotional material being displayed for free.