Network agreements for content creators: some legal considerations
In order to dive deep into network agreements, it is useful to firstly understand how the content creator industry raised.
The growth of the web streaming market
In the digital era, streamers are becoming an increasingly relevant presence in the entertainment industry. The number of people attempting to start this profession is rising, especially among younger generations. Consequently, building a broad fan base is becoming increasingly complex, and the level of competition has risen sharply.
This has made monetization by creators (especially those with at the beginning of their career) more complex, as they find themselves navigating an extremely crowded and content-rich universe. Content creators have therefore found themselves in the situation of having to increase their commitment and investment in creating appreciated content, in building and managing the community, as well as in reaching out to brands and obtaining sponsorships.
Multi-Channel Networks
In this context, Multi-Channel Networks ("MCNs") have been developed to assist content creators (in particular YouTubers).
YouTube itself defines them as "third-party service providers that affiliate with multiple YouTube channels to offer services that may include audience development, content programming, creator collaborations, digital rights management, monetization, and/or sales."
MCNs allow creators to receive support in creating content (for example, through financial support from the MCN itself), to produce various types of content, and to access tools for content management (often also in the form of analytics offered thanks to the close relationship between MCNs and YouTube).
Through MCNs, creators also enter into a community of creators, enabling collaborations or a network of professionals.
MCNs typically also provide creators with consulting and assistance services in content production. In addition to this, MCNs often manage collaborations with brands for advertising services (such as placing ads in the creator's content), creating sponsorship campaigns and product placements, and other content monetization activities (for example, through subscriptions).
Network agreements with Multi-Channel Networks
As stated by YouTube itself, MCNs are third-party entities, and therefore, collaboration with such entities requires the creator to enter into a contract (of which YouTube is not a party).
The network contract (which only partially resembles a management contract) typically includes a mandate for marketing activities, concluding collaboration agreements, and generally providing consulting, assistance, and coordination of the creator's activities on the channel. It also includes a clause granting a license on the content generated by the creator.
In this regard, MCNs usually employ two contractual approaches. The first approach is lighter and involves a mere affiliation by the creator: this remains the owner of the created content and only recognizes compensation to the MCN as consideration for the services provided. The second approach is more "invasive" and involves transferring the content generated by the creator on the YouTube channel to the MCN, which also commits to managing the channel. This second contractual form requires greater attention regarding copyright aspects, also in light of the peculiarities of individual jurisdictions (consider, for example, the prohibition on transferring moral rights, provided for by Italian legal system but not shared by other legal systems).
The contract may then include additional clauses regarding the services provided by the MCN.
From a compensation perspective, it is usually provided that the MCN handles the collection of the sums paid (for example, by YouTube in the case of advertising) and retains a percentage, transferring the remaining amount to the creator.