The problem came when my own stuff started getting bogus takedowns and copyright claims and other people sticking ads into my work or claiming that because 2 seconds of my 20-minute long video essay has a clip from a popular movie, I should get no revenue for the other 19 minutes and 58 seconds of detailed analysis… or that - because I chose to use the cartoon theme music from the 1980s animated show for the background music for a 2+ week project on a highly detailed transforming 3D model animation, I should get zero credit or possible revenue from it…
My choice was either to delete my shit to spite them and move it somewhere else or just give up…
Sometimes I said fuck them and deleted it. Other times I moved it somewhere else. Other times I shifted what I spent time on.
Now though, I honestly try to put stuff up not ONLY for the fun of it, but to try and make some sort of tiny bit of money.
My job contract with a company I had been with for 10+ years ended at the end of last year… and I got a new 6-month contract position at a different company… but it pays way less.
Being able to make content “just for the fun of it” is nice and easier when you’re young and still on your parents’ dime, but that’s kind of a luxury to some of us older folks who are now just also looking to secure some sort of income in an increasingly shitty world where there are no safety nets, and no job seems safe from elimination.
The worst part is that - over the years as Google and other companies have increased the requirements for being able to have any sort of monetization whatsoever, I went from making a couple hundred bucks a year to not even qualifying anymore to be a YouTube partner.
Now with 1,100+ subscribers and over 1.1 million views on all the stuff on my channel (some of which is honestly garbage or just the best versions of otherwise maybe lost media I do NOT own and so am NOT complaining about a lack of making revenue on), I still have yet to make enough from any of the stuff that IS my original work over that 14+ years to even have it be significant to show up as required on my taxes.