YouTuber Loses Lawsuit Demanding $22/View–Ray v. Google

November 8, 2023 · by · in Licensing/Contracts

(As will be obvious in a moment, this is a pro se lawsuit).

Ray created a YouTube account and aspired to become a YouTube Partner. He posted 50 videos that generated over 317k views. Incredibly, Ray thought Google promised to pay him $22 per video view. By that math, Ray should be owed $7M, yet he made a damages demand of $15M…plus $3M for pain and suffering, $20M for punitive damages, and attorneys’ fees (reminder: he’s pro se).

As part of joining the YouTube Partners program, Ray agreed to the YouTube TOS, the YPP Terms, and the AdSense TOS. “None of these agreements provides that Google will pay Ray $22 per view of his videos, or any other dollar amount.” The court continues:

the language of the YPP Terms is clear: Google will pay Ray 55% of net revenues from advertisements run alongside his videos and 55% of net revenues from YouTube channel subscription fees. Ray’s allegation that Google promised him $22.00 per view of his videos, or any other per-view payment arrangement, is contrary to the clear and explicit meaning of the YPP Terms governing payment under the program. As such, there can be no breach because Google had no obligation to provide Ray with a fixed dollar amount for each view of his YouTube videos, and any allegation otherwise is contrary to the terms of the parties’ agreement…

He provides no evidence of an agreement where Google promised to pay him $22.00 per view, as he alleged. He even admits he “cannot find the Google promise [to pay] ‘up to $22.00’ per view.”

Ray challenged YouTube’s terms as unconscionable. The court says any procedural unconscionability is slight because YouTube offers its services for free. Substantively, “the Court finds YouTube’s TOS are not so one-sided as to ‘shock the conscience.'”

If anyone does hear of a bona fide opportunity to earn $22 per video view that isn’t porn-related, please let me know. I would participate in that program myself. By way of comparison, in October, my AdSense earnings were less than 2 cents per pageview.

Case Citation: Ray v. Google LLC, 2023 WL 7305048 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 6, 2023)