Rush to make money from amateur video can leave creators behind

Did you capture something unexpected or unique on yoursmartphone'scamera? Want to turn it into cash?

Canadians who have recorded vivid and compelling video are being approached by a growing number of media companies that offer to license homemade productions and then share the fees that get collected when marketers, broadcasters and otherwebsitespay to use the material.

The content that attracts attention is often goofy (such asa corgi belly-flopping in Shuswap Lake, B.C.), accidental (a sword trick gone wrong in Vancouver), or newsworthy.

MichelChamberland, a process operator atSyncrude, earned a licensing deal for his footage of the Fort McMurray wildfire.

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"I posted my video toYouTube, and in the next couple of hours a lot of news networks started inquiring about it," saysChamberland, who had dashcamson the front and back of his Dodge Ram as he tried to escape the wildfire. "Then the next morning I got a call early in the morning asking if I wanted to license the video."

It was ViralHog on the phone, a Montana-based company that specializes in amateur video, or "user-generated content" as it's known these days. A member of ViralHog's team had seen Chamberland's dramatic footage: a long line of cars barely moving as fire rages at the side of the road, embers floating through the air, a motorcyclist clearly suffering from the heat of the flames speeding past the lineup.

Chamberlandsayshewas offered 60 per cent of any revenue generated, withViralHogkeeping the rest.

"I thought maybe I could use that money to put towards the cause, a donation to the Red Cross," says the FortMcMurraynative, who lost his home in the blaze. "It might be a couple thousand dollars or something it won't be a 100-million-view video."

'Borders on harassment'

Most people would likely be delighted to be offered a chance to cash in on their video, but some industry insiders warn that too many companies are jumping into the space, and not all of them are entirely reputable.

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"There's a lot of ambulance chasing going on," saysRahulChopra, CEO of New York-basedStoryful, one of the largest operators in the industry.Originally from Toronto, Chopra saysbidding wars have broken out for very hot videos, such as the one where afather treats a baby like a musical instrument.

"You're talking about people being accosted inemailsand on social platforms. It borders on harassment," Chopra says.

He also saysthere have been plenty of complaints on social media from people who feel they were misled by a licensing company. Others say they weren't given proper credit.

"It's still such a nascent space that I think a lot of companies are trying to take advantage," he says. "From our perspective, it's pretty frustrating. It gives the space a bad name."

Ethics in a Wild West environment

A journalist founded Storyful during theArab Spring uprisings of 2011. As amateur video flooded out of the region, news organizations struggled to authenticate what they were seeing.Storyfulprovided context and background on those videos, and eventually began selling subscriptions to its service. In 2013, NewsCorp. bought the companyand Chopra became CEO.

"We work with 150 of the biggest news organizations in the world," he says proudly. "We were founded to bring in an ethical rights model to a Wild, Wild West of user-generated content."

Nowadays a large chunk of the company's revenue comes from licensing video to marketers for commercial purposes.

One Canadian who has no complaints about the industry is Jared Frank. The 24-year-old has collected approximately $30,000 in fees from his viral video. Two years ago while backpacking in South America, Frank decided to shoot aselfiebeside a moving train. He wasn't hurt, but when someone on the train stuck out their foot, Frank got an unexpected boot to the head.

"I posted it online so my friends could watch it," the University of Regina student says. "I didn't expect it to get that popular."

The video currently has close to 40 million views.

Hello Regina, it's Los Angeles calling

JukinMedia of Los Angeles approachedFrank about licensing. It's the other large operator in the industry, and is more focused on entertainment thanStoryful.Jukinhas a bunch of "content brands" onYouTubeandFacebook, including FailArmy,JukinVideo, People Are Awesomeand The Pet Collective. All of them feature amateur video.

But licensing companies are tight-lipped about the specifics of the deals they offer to content creators.

"The percentage we offer on a revenue share is confidential," Jukin founder Jonathan Skogmo says. "Some people want cash up front. It could be anywhere from $50 to $5,000."

Jukin is certainly cashing in. From a humble beginning in Skogmo's apartment in 2009, the company has grown to 130 employees working in offices in Los Angeles, New York and London. Its investors include Samsung, Maker Studios and Bertelsmann Digital Media.

In Toronto, a company called Rumble.com boasts connections to Microsoft, Yahoo, X-Box and MTV, and says content creators can make tentimes what they'd earn onYouTube.

As for FortMcMurray'sMichelChamberland, he's waiting for his first payment fromViralHog.

"They pay on the15thof every month," he says, noting he doesn't expect the cash to flow for long. "I know how viral videos work. They're popular for a few weeks and then they're gone. So you want to work quickly."

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