Within months Internet users who 'broadcast themselves' on YouTube will earn money for the experience, the Google-owned portal has confirmed to Freelance UK.
As long as users own the full copyright of the video they upload, they can expect to pocket a portion of what YouTube will earn from a host of incoming advertisers to the site.
The plan to share ad revenues with millions of people worldwide was hatched at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland by the site's founder Chad Hurley.
At the time, he said the unprecedented decision to help its community monetize the content they upload was the YouTube way of "rewarding creativity."
The anticipated move, which has been made possible by a bigger audience through selling to Google last year, follows the same profit-sharing strategy introduced by YouTube rivals like Break.com and Revver.
Technology commentator Liz Gannes says these smaller video-sharing sites could be in "big trouble" once YouTube, which attracts 100,000 uploads a day, starts copying what is currently their only meaningful differentiation.
But far from looking at others in the video-sharing marketplace, YouTube insisted the strategy of paying those who populate it with creative content has evolved from its parent company, not its competitors.
"In the same way that Google has worked with publishers and content creators to make money online, YouTube will begin to help our community to monetize the content they create," a spokesperson for YouTube said yesterday.
"Partnerships with content creators and the community are crucial to both Google and YouTube's success. Both Google and YouTube do best when our partners do well, and that's because we don't actually own the content."
Not owning the content is a sticking point that worries Nicholas Car, former editor of the Harvard Business Review, and author of the controversial paper 'Does IT matter?'
Writing on his blog, Rough Type, he pointed out that uploaders to YouTube don't receive any royalties, nor do they have to grant the site exclusive rights to the video, meaning users are free to post the same clip elsewhere.
"What will be interesting to see is whether, as a prerequisite for participating in revenue-sharing - for getting some royalties -YouTube will require that a member give it an exclusive license, precluding the posting of the video elsewhere," he said.
"I would bet that, perhaps not immediately but at some point in the not-too-distant future, YouTube will demand an exclusive license in return for payment."
He suggests that "rewarding creativity," as the YouTube founder claims, may be part of the plan, but it's "not the real story," rather it's a "smart strategic move on YouTube's part... [and] an even smarter move on Google's part."
Responding to questions, YouTube declined to be drawn on how much users could expect to earn, or what mechanism would be used.
However a spokesman said: "Since its inception, YouTube has been focused on growing its community and fostering creativity. As Chad mentioned, we are actively exploring a variety of ways to help the community to monetize content, and expect to announce something in the coming months that users will embrace.
"At the end of the day, it's all about the community and we will continue to do what we can to make the user experience a prosperous one."
Earlier this month YouTube was crowned the third biggest brand of 2006, only a short distance behind Apple, but both trailed significantly to the website's owner, and still the world's biggest brand, Google.
Feb 7, 2007
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