When Howard Davies-Carr uploaded a video of his two children on to YouTube, he thought it would be seen only by his sons' godfather and a few friends. More than 400m views later, it has earned him well over £100,000.
The clip of one-year-old Charlie mischievously nibbling his three-year-old brother Harry's finger, known as
"Charlie bit my finger – again!", became a global phenomenon.
Davies-Carr now regularly uploads videos of his sons – satisfying a cooing international audience and earning him money from the adverts YouTube places next to the clips. In his case, they include a leading baby milk provider, Oxfam and Vodafone.
"I've always filmed the boys, but now I make a short extract to upload. I'm grateful to have these snapshots of the boys growing up – the money is a bonus." You would be forgiven for thinking Davies-Carr's story is a fluke – even he puts his success "entirely down to luck". But increasing numbers of people are earning money through the advertising revenue generated by their videos – and not only clips that have gone "viral", such as
the one of the man cursing his dog, Fenton, as it chased deer across Richmond Park.
Across Britain, people of all ages are putting their hobbies online and uploading films to an audience which waits with bated breath. Livie Rose, 21, originally from Swansea and now living near Brighton, started filming make-up tutorials in January 2010 after she got hooked on the beauty videos produced by teenagers in America.
"My mother saw the videos I was watching and said 'You could do that', so I did," she told Guardian Money. Rose has deferred studying politics at Queen Mary University in east London to concentrate on her YouTube channel,
"liviesays", and has even created a studio from her earnings.
"I don't want to lose the chance to study, but the channel was starting to take me places. I didn't want to miss out on an opportunity." The hobby she describes as her "unnatural interest in make-up", earns her anything from £50 to several thousand pounds each month, depending on the popularity of her videos. "I didn't set out to make this into a living, but it's the best kind of hobby, because I get to make money out of it."
She adds: "The proportion YouTube takes is fixed, but it doesn't actually take that much. Say I earned £1, they would probably take about 10p."
Video makers can earn money from advertising via the site's partner programme, a scheme aimed at regular uploaders with big audiences. Basically, this means you share in the revenue generated when people watch. Partners must agree to YouTube allowing "relevant" adverts to be placed alongside, and even within, their videos and earn money based on a combination of "impressions" (views) and "clicks" (how many people click on the ad). "Pre-roll advertising" – those often annoying ads you have to watch before the video starts playing – can be particularly lucrative, as advertisers are willing to pay more.
All of this means the amount of money you can earn will vary dramatically. However, YouTube insists that "partners will always get the majority of the [ad] revenue".
There are more than 20,000 partners worldwide. While the site wouldn't disclose how many there are in Britain, it claims it has seen a "seven-times increase" in the number of UK partners earning more than $10,000 (around £6,460) a year, plus a 154% increase in revenues received.
Anyone can apply to be a partner as long as they regularly upload original videos that are viewed by thousands of people, and either own, or have permission to use, all the audio and video content, it says. This means videos featuring pop songs, a movie, TV or video game visuals can be problematic.
Shoo Rayner, 55, a children's author from the Forest of Dean, whose mission statement is to teach the world to draw, has been sharing artistic tips for two years, and has racked up well over 2m views. He has his own channel,
Shoo Rayner Drawing. "I'm not making an enormous amount but I am hoping to do this full time soon," he says. "I'll have to do other things, as well – I'm starting a course on YouTube for business, and I can do speaking engagements to top up my earnings – but I expect around 60% of my income will come from YouTube advertising."
Rayner adds: "You can't predict the amount you're going to make, although I find January is pretty lean and it starts building from there until Christmas. You can see your earnings ticking up throughout the day, depending on who has watched the video."
Rebecca Flint, who is 16 and from the Isle of Man, has sold language learning books, music CDs and dance DVDs after a video of her dancing to pop songs went viral, propelling her to Japanese stardom. Her stage name is Beckii Cruel, and she now has her own website,
beckii.co.uk
"When I first started, I was filming the videos on a laptop in my bedroom and then overlaying the music," she says. "Nothing happened at first but then, suddenly, I went viral. It was a complete surprise. It's been fantastic – I've had the opportunity to travel to Japan eight times and perform live."
But you don't have to go viral to make it, according to Steve Roberts, who lives in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. His football skills tutorials (available on his YouTube channel,
STRskillSchool) have more than 48,000 subscribers. "I judge my success according to how many people come back to watch each week. If you've got something interesting to say, or a hobby to share – put it on video."
So what happens if that clip of your cat climbing into a box ends up "doing a Fenton"? YouTube claims its technology can predict when a video is about to go massive. "We can contact the owner and offer to start serving up advertising, so they can make money from a one-week sensation," it says.
The Fenton clip was reportedly filmed by a 13-year-old boy, and has inspired a range of spin-off items. In early December, the boy's father was quoted as saying: "We won't be buying a Caribbean island just yet." At that point, the clip had been viewed by just over 1 million people. By this week, it had been viewed more than 4.4 million times – and counting.
Anyone uploading videos to YouTube needs to be aware they are granting the website, and its millions of users, the right to "use, reproduce and distribute" their clips – as well as take the mickey out of them.
The company's small print says while the individual retains the copyright, he or she is required to grant "limited" rights to YouTube and other users of the service. However, many would probably feel that these rights are actually quite sweeping.
The terms of service state that when you upload content, you grant the website "a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable licence (with right to sub-licence) to use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display and perform that content in connection with the provision of the service …" This includes "promoting and redistributing … in any media formats and through any media channels".
You are also granting almost exactly the same rights to every user of the site. As YouTube has an estimated 90 million-plus visitors each month, that's a lot of people.
"Anyone who views your video on YouTube instantly acquires the right to reproduce and distribute it, and to prepare derivative works," one expert told Guardian Money.
"This is all fine if your only intention is to disseminate your video for general interest and/or amusement. But if you capture a legendary rock'n'roller cavorting with a young starlet in Richmond Park, you might want to make some money out of it." He adds: "Of course, it is possible to post on YouTube and then licence your video to OK! But it's not very likely that OK! will want it after millions of people have seen it."
