2025 Articles

A New Era in the Creator Economy: Addressing Copyright Issues Between Creators on YouTube

Binker Cosen, Makena

The creator economy is the future of American media—a reality content platforms, consumers, traditional media, and brands have recognized for the past decade. The creator economy refers to an “ecosystem of content creation activities in which independent creators generate content on a self-directed basis that is monetizable by the creator.” A quarter of weekly media hours are dedicated to watching user- generated video, with YouTube dominating the market as the largest video-sharing platform.2 Every day, over half of adults and almost three-quarters of teenagers turn to YouTube. Independent “creator” content is “changing [consumers’] definition of quality,” diminishing the significance of traditional media’s high production value. Among streaming services, YouTube garners more views than Netflix and as many as Hulu, Disney+, Max, Peacock, and Paramount+ combined.