YouTube's Updated Terms Of Service, Explained | The Drum

Under the new terms of service, YouTube payments to creators who are entitled to revenue will now be considered royalties, and therefore must ... Skiptocontent DigitalTransformation BrandSafety Adtech YouTube’supdatedtermsofservice,explained By KendraClark |SeniorReporter May25,2021|5minread Listentoarticle 4min YouTubewillbeabletoplaceadsonvideosmadebyallcreatorswhoarenotinvolvedintheplatform'spartnershipprogram—withoutgivingthemacutofthecash.EffectiveJune1,thevideoplatformwillhavetherighttomonetizemostcontentonitssite,peritsupdatedglobaltermsofservice.Itwillalsobanthecollectionofpersonaldataviafacialrecognitionandchangethewayitpayscreators.Here’swhatmarketersneedtoknowaboutthechanges.YouTubeuserstheworldoverreceivedanemailSaturdayfromtheGoogle-ownedplatformremindingthemthatnewprovisionsoutlinedinitstermsofservicewilltakeeffectgloballyonJune1. Thechanges,whichrolledoutintheUSinNovember,createnewdataprivacyprotectionsforusers,introduceanewrightfortheplatformtomonetizecontentmadebyindependentcreatorsandupdatethecompany’staxationframeworkforrevenueearnedbycreators. YouTube'supdatedtermsandconditionswillgointoeffectJune1globally ExplicitbanagainstcollectingpersonaldataviafacialrecognitionYouTube’stermsofserviceprohibitsthecollection“ofanyinformationthatmightidentifyapersonwithouttheirpermission.”Whilethecompanyclaimsthishasalwaysbeenpartofitspolicies,thechangesincludeupdatedlanguagethatexplicitlycallsouttheuseoffacialrecognitionsoftwareforthepurposeofgatheringpersonaldataonusers. “Thisclarificationisreasonablyassumedtobeatleastinpartaresponsetocommercializedserviceswhichhaverecentlybeenusingaccesstoad-based‘free’sitestogainimagesorinformationfortheirownplatforms,”saysBrendaLeong,seniorcounselanddirectorofartificialintelligenceandethicsattheFutureofPrivacyForum,aWashington,DC-basedprivacy-focusedthinktank. Thelatestmarketingnewsandinsightsstraighttoyourinbox. GetthebestofTheDrumbychoosingfromaseriesofgreatemailbriefings,whetherthat’sdailynews,weeklyrecapsordeepdivesintomediaorcreativity. Signup Inparticular,shesays,theuseofClearviewAI,whichmatches“imagesagainstanenrolleddatabase”andPimEyes,“whichismorelikeasearchengine[anduses]‘spiders’tocrawltheweb,”havegarneredsignificantconcernoverthelastcoupleofyears.YouTube’schanges,shesays,maybeadirectresponsetoworriesthatsuchsoftwareisbeingappliedtocollectusers’datawithouttheirpermission.WhilemarketersemployingfacialrecognitionsoftwareonYouTubemaynolongerdoso,thereisnocurrentUSlegislationprohibitingorevenregulatingthescrapingofdataacrosssiteslikeYouTube,thoughLeongnotesthatthisisa“keytopicincurrentprivacylegislationdiscussionsatbothstateandfederallevels.”YouTubedeclinedarequestforcomment.YouTube’srighttocontentmonetizationYouTubehastherighttomonetizeanyandallcontentonitsplatformthatisnotdoesnotbelongtotheYouTubePartnerProgram(YPP)—aprogramthroughwhichcreatorscancopyrightandmakemoneyfromtheiroriginalcontent.“YouTuberunsadsinvariousareasoftheirplatform,includingbeforeandsometimesduringvideos,onthehomepagemastheadandinvarioussearchresults,”Leongsays.“ThisupdateindicatesthattheyalsohavetherighttorunadsonvideosfromprovidersorinchannelstoosmalltoqualifyfortheirPartnerProgram.Andinsuchcases,thefullbenefitoftheadsalegoestoYouTubeuntilthechannelreachestheleveltoqualifyforpaidpartnerstatusandcanreceiveashare.”Indeed,YouTubeisalreadybeginningtorunadsonvideosacrosstheplatformthatarenotunderanexistingmonetizationcontract.Andunderthenewrule,thereisnorevenue-sharingcomponentofthenewinitiative,meaningYouTubecanplaceadsonoriginalcontentwithoutgivingthecontentcreatoracutoftherevenue.NewrevenuetaxationpoliciesUnderthenewtermsofservice,YouTubepaymentstocreatorswhoareentitledtorevenuewillnowbeconsideredroyalties,andthereforemustcomplywithUStaxlaw.Assuch,Googlewillnowwithholdtaxesfromthesepaymentsasislegallyrequired. “UScreatorswillgenerallybeunaffectedbythesewithholdingtaxesaslongastheyprovidevalidtaxdocumentationinAdsense,”thecompanysaidinastatementpublishedinNovember.CreatorsoutsideoftheUSwillbesubjecttothelawsoftheirrespectivecountries. DigitalTransformation BrandSafety Adtech MorefromDigitalTransformation Viewall Trending Industryinsights Viewall Addyourowncontent+