1.2 million YouTube views and not a penny earned for Watertown Shootout Video.
It was recently brought to my attention that some people still don’t know that YouTube will pay them for video views. Whether you create original content or happen to capture something amazing on camera, you could be sitting on a pot of gold IF you get lucky.
Lucky? Yes. YouTube, unfortunately, is notorious for promising to pay and then making it nearly impossible to collect the money. It’s actually happening right now to one of our Rawporters who captured the historic Watertown Shootout video with amazing and eerie audio.
It’s been two months since semi-anonymous user “Jess Ica” posted her Watertown Shootout video on YouTube and generated more than 1.2 million views.
The potential for earning was significant but so was the risk. So far she hasn’t earned a single YouTube penny. Additionally, more than a dozen other YouTube users hijacked the video in those first few days to drive traffic back to their own YouTube Channels. Jess Ica not only missed out on those views but also had to spend hours flagging them and submitting takedown notices. She then saw her video being used by mainstream media without compensation because YouTube doesn’t take adequate measures to prevent downloading.
Needless to say, things quickly spiraled out of control, which can be quite an issue for someone not used to this level of excitement. She asked Rawporter for help.
Like Jess Ica, people find themselves in the right (or wrong) place at the right (or wrong) time and capture something amazing on camera. Most, unfortunately, don’t know that Rawporter can help protect and license this content so they post it online to YouTube, Facebook and Twitter where it is quickly targeted for piracy as in the case of Jess Ica’s Watertown Shootout video. Without the support of a larger entity like Rawporter, an individual has to make these cumbersome demands alone and hope for the best. In Jess Ica’s case, we simply provided a link to license the video from Rawporter legitimately and simplified the process for all parties. This also made it clear that there would be repercussions for stealing the video.
Photo and video content is social currency. Period. A picture is worth a thousand words and a video is worth a thousand pictures. Media Outlets, Brands and Ad Agencies realize the value of rich media and have licensing budgets. Most go down the proper licensing path but others choose not to for a variety of reasons. Most often, it’s poor judgment or inability to reach the content owner.
In Jess Ica’s case, we made it easy easily license this content by including a link to Rawporter under the YouTube video.
Jess Ica has licensed her video to several mainstream media outlets, is getting paid for her video and will likely continue to do so months, if not years, to come. Meanwhile, even though she enabled advertising on YouTube in hopes of earning for views, she has yet to see a penny. Worse yet, her attempts to collect owed compensation have been denied! Here’s an overview:
Jess Ica enabled advertising and applied for an AdSense account, which was denied.
Her brother lives at the same address and already has an account so they assumed they were the same person.
She protested and a week later they approved the account AFTER the 1.2 million views.
YouTube finally agreed to pay Jess Ica on any views beyond the existing 1.2 million views if thresholds are met.
This is what I meant when I said, “IF you get lucky.” The bottom line is that YouTube earned significant advertising revenue from Jess Ica’s video and they are keeping it all. She should have earned a minimum of $2,400 if you do the basic math: 1.2 million impressions / 1000 impression x $2 (on the low end) = $2,400. This is just ONE video with a decent viewing audience. Just imagine how many other people are getting the same runaround and lining YouTube’s pockets when they should be getting fair credit and compensation for their work.
It’s time to do more than express frustration. We need to expose injustices and create broader awareness to protect those that are contributing to the evolving media landscape. YouTube could be doing more for its users so let’s challenge them to improve that layer of protection and follow through on that payment process. These powerful videos are in more demand than ever and YouTube is obviously aware. If you choose to upload to YouTube, pay close attention to the process and don’t let them take advantage of you. Lastly, if you see others using your content without permission, you have the right to stop them and we are happy to help.
If this has happened to you or someone you know, please contact [email protected] so our team can try to help others get the credit and compensation they deserve.
-- Kevin (@kevinGEEdavis)