A Spanish YouTuber is suing Google Spain, a unit of Alphabet Inc , for wrongful dismissal in a case that could set a precedent for content creators' labour rights, Spanish union UGT said on Thursday.
Forcing companies to give worker’s rights to gig economy workers is actually huge, so expect Google to fight tooth and nail to block it. Could make for a big change in all the hoops they make YouTubers jump through if it does eventually stick though.
The lawsuit seeks to demonstrate an employment relationship between Jota, a creator of political satire content whose real name has not been disclosed, and Alphabet’s YouTube
Yeah, I don’t think they have to fight very hard here. This lawsuit has a snowball’s chance in hell.
This would be an absolutely insane precedent that would just result in further gate-keeping the ability to earn revenue on YouTube.
Exactly. If YouTube was forced to treat every monetized creator on the platform as an employee, this will end up hurting smaller creators who can’t meet the requirements for an actual employment (those with smaller followings or irregular upload schedules), and many who were previously monetized will suddenly lose it.
I can sympathize with the argument on gig work for hire like Uber. I’m not sure any of the frameworks we have work that well, but there’s merit to at least some of the protections of employment law being in play.
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Forcing companies to give worker’s rights to gig economy workers is actually huge, so expect Google to fight tooth and nail to block it. Could make for a big change in all the hoops they make YouTubers jump through if it does eventually stick though.
Yeah, I don’t think they have to fight very hard here. This lawsuit has a snowball’s chance in hell.
Do you have experience with Spanish employment law?
This would be an absolutely insane precedent that would just result in further gate-keeping the ability to earn revenue on YouTube.
He doesn’t even deserve to get to preliminary motions, and his attorney should be disciplined for wasting the court’s time.
Exactly. If YouTube was forced to treat every monetized creator on the platform as an employee, this will end up hurting smaller creators who can’t meet the requirements for an actual employment (those with smaller followings or irregular upload schedules), and many who were previously monetized will suddenly lose it.
I can sympathize with the argument on gig work for hire like Uber. I’m not sure any of the frameworks we have work that well, but there’s merit to at least some of the protections of employment law being in play.
But YouTube isn’t employing anyone.