Non-US Kickstarter Projects

Envart

Hello PC!

I'm trying to create a Kickstarter project from the UK, but I've run into difficulties regarding the financial requirements. The requirements are as follows:

—You are 18 years of age or older.
—You are a permanent US resident with a Social Security Number (or EIN).
—You have a US address, US bank account, and US state-issued ID (driver’s license).
—You have a major US credit or debit card.

As a UK citizen it's impossible for me to fulfill these requirements personally. Over the last few weeks I've been searching for a solution to this problem, but so far nothing has been forthcoming. Ideally I need to find a reputable and reasonably priced law firm (or a trustworthy US partner) that has delt with this issue before, and can advise me on the process - potentially minimising the taxes due on the funds and avoiding any IRS or other legal issues.

However, Kickstarter terms state that:
If your project is a collaboration between several people, the creator with the US requirements runs the project. In this case, all the names on all accounts must be theirs. However, this creator cannot just be a family member or friend with US requirements; they have to be directly involved in the creation of the project itself.

Obviously this is fairly vague: directly involved could be handling the PR, scheduling/production or perhaps making the high-strength coffee that fuels the developers.

I'm looking for advice from the PC community as to what I should do next. Has anyone encountered this before and can offer some sage wisdom, or simply provide me with any leads?

I would really appreciate any help!

EVIL

Easiest solution it to not use kickstarter but use one of the alternative european friendly kickstarter clones, but obviously the coverage on those are minimal compared with kickstarter.

Justin Meisse

FYI - Kickstarter isn't trying to be evil it's just legal issues they have to deal with, I believe they are working on deals to go international.

Del

indiegogo.com is an equivalent site that allows European addresses

ambershee

If you have a team member or someone you trust in the US, there is nothing stopping them from running the Kickstarter project on the behalf of you and your team.

Envart

Evil, unfortunately the coverage on those websites is less than idea. I'd like to give this project the best chance of success, and I believe the alternatives won't provide that.

I understand that Kickstarter aren't being malicious in any sense, hope that came across in the post. It's true they are working to open it up to the international community, but there are a myriad of legal issues. I believe currently that Kickstarter would be illegal in the UK (not an expert). Also they may be waiting for legislation to pass within the US and Europe, and I believe there are some bills that deal with some of the legal issues about crowd-funding.

Envart

Ambershee: I don't really have anyone that I trust to that extent within the US. I'm also looking for advice from a legal stand point, would a simple contractual agreement between me and the US contact stating that they agree to transfer the funds raised suffice?

ambershee

Kickstarter isn't illegal in the UK, but Amazon Paymnets cannot be made outside of the US. There are one or two projects on Kickstarter from the UK already.

You could try and set up some kind of contractual agreement, but that's going to be worthless anyway unless you can afford to actually enforce it. If yuou don't have someone you can trust, don't use it.

Envart

Thanks for the correction and the advice. You make a very good point regarding financing a legal dispute, I'd have to hire a US and a UK lawyer - which would run into the thousands very quickly.

Envart

I'mlooking to move forward with this though, there is a law firm that handled the same situation for some board game creators, been trying to get in contact with them, but it's proving difficult so far. If anyone knows a firm that has handled a similar situation I'd be very much obliged if you could pass me their details!

Andreas

ambershee wrote: »

There are one or two projects on Kickstarter from the UK already.

How did they go about this? I just came across this rule. Kickstarter may not be evil, but Amazon really do try. They refuse to ship all sorts of goods to certain countries (UK, but not Ireland? WTF?) and now this. Dayum. Kickstarter is so popular, I had no idea it was only US projects. They certainly have no problem taking money from other countries! Hope this issue is near getting fixed.

eld

Andreas wrote: »

How did they go about this? I just came across this rule. Kickstarter may not be evil, but Amazon really do try. They refuse to ship all sorts of goods to certain countries (UK, but not Ireland? WTF?) and now this. Dayum. Kickstarter is so popular, I had no idea it was only US projects. They certainly have no problem taking money from other countries! Hope this issue is near getting fixed.

By having a US citizen on the team.

ambershee

One team had a lawyer negotiate it for them too.

Andreas

So it's not even as simple as using someone in the US? A lawyer has to get a slice? God damn how are there still these devides in this world in 2012. Bloody Amazon. But then paypal would be even worse, they would detain large amounts of money. Christ on a bike. Best I can hope for is indiegogo (which has been known to generate a decent amount of cash to be fair) or that this mess gets sorted by the time Im ready to post.

ambershee

It largely is as simple as having a team member in the US; but you do need to be a little careful since money laundering laws do exist.

Andreas

Nick Carver

ambershee wrote: »

It largely is as simple as having a team member in the US.

That's not completely correct. As far as I understand it, you have to be a permanent resident in the US in order to use Amazon Payments. So, if you're a foreigner in the US on a work visa, such as myself, you can't start a Kickstarter project. I'd love to be proved wrong on this though!

ambershee

I had meant a US citizen.