#freebooting

So this morning I was contacted by a channel called Undertale Comic TV (x). They are a channel that specializes in compiling the works of other comic dubbers and putting them into longer videos. They have about 250,000 subscribers, topping even big-league comic dubbers like Supershadic x250 and @starbotdubs (sorry for the tag out of the blue, but if I recall correctly you don’t take kindly to compilation videos either, so I ((hoped)) you wouldn’t mind).

To be fair, this particular channel doesn’t outright steal the content of other users. They ask permission first, as they did to me. Here is the email I got:

I’ve actually been contacted by these people before, though back then it was a message on YouTube. I declined, because there are certain things I know about YouTube and what these channels are about that make me unwilling to give permission to feature my content.

Now, I’ll be perfectly honest here: as a channel with a mere 5k subscribers, the prospect of having my stuff featured on a channel with 250k subs is very, VERY tempting. And I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t seriously considered it both then and now. This time I was a bit intrigued at the bit about offering my voice for their own personally created dubs. Though from what I can tell from their recent videos, their own personal dubs are still a very small part of the videos they put out.

So why turn it down, you ask? Well, first of all, compilation videos have been around for a long time. That’s another story for another day, but I didn’t start seeing really heavily monetized compilation videos until I started watching comic dubs, and channels like Undertale Comic TV and Hub Cinema started popping up. Now, these channels aren’t mere fanmade compilations to celebrate the creators. If you look at their videos, they monetize the SHIT out of them, and do everything they can to use YouTube’s algorithms to their advantage.

For those who don’t know: YouTube has changed the way their search algorithms work in the last couple of years to favor longer videos that come out more frequently. The average number of minutes watched on video is now favored over sheer number of views. This is because longer videos can get more ads slapped onto them, making them more lucrative. MatPat did a great video in December last year (here) explaining these changes and their reasons more in depth.

So you’ll notice with UT Comic TV’s videos that most of them are pretty long compared to your average “comic dub,” between about 12 and 22 minutes. You’ll also notice (if you aren’t using Youtube Red or AN ADBLOCKER *waggles finger*) that there are often multiple ad breaks throughout the video, like so:

SIX ad breaks in one 22 minute video. Now I do monetize my videos, and my hard and fast rule is if a video is 15 minutes or less I’ll only do the little banner ads and sponsor cards. But if a video is 15 minutes or more, I’ll also do one video ad on the start. I don’t do any in the middle because I find that very obtrusive, and it would interfere with the viewing experience I want to offer my subscribers. I do it on the longer videos because they take a lot longer to produce (a 1 hour video can take 6-8 hours or more, depending on lots of stuff).

I know for a fact that they could be doing even MORE ads, but that’s still a lot of monetization per video.

Now, I have an interactive portion I’d like you all to help me with. Right now, open up YouTube in another tab, and search for “undertale comic dub.” What comes up first? Why, Undertale Comic TV of course! That’s a bit skeezy, don’t you think? Not Supershadic, not Starbot, not Namelessdubs, not any of the original content creators on the whole first page of search results. You get Namelessdubs if you go to the second page, but mostly it’s just UT Comic TV and Hub Cinema.

That’s happening because, as I said before, they are making their videos in the way YouTube likes--long and clickbaity. Lots of tags, lots of uppercase letters, and lots of ads on them. The search and recommendation algorithms favor their videos, even above the original content creators themselves.

And again, they aren’t STEALING videos, they are asking permission first. From what I can tell by asking those whose stuff they’ve featured, they are truly only featuring those who have given permission to use their content. And they do credit the original creators, link them in the description, and even tell their viewers go out and support them. So it looks like it SHOULD be legit, right? They’re just out to promote comic dubbers, RIIIIIGHT?!?!?!

Here’s the thing, though. They aren’t out to support comic dubbers. They’re out to make money. If the people who give them permission to use their videos get any more notoriety due to being featured on their channel, that is merely a happy accident. Undertale Comic TV isn’t one Undertale superfan named “David, David” just out to bring recognition to all the great voice actors out there.

Given the sheer volume of videos they put out, this is clearly a group of people, probably a small company. They are making a decent chunk of change recycling other people’s content. And in order to do so, they are using YouTube’s moneymaking algorithms to their advantage, elbowing original content out of the way in the process.

Before I go any further, let me say this is not at all meant to call out anyone who has given permission for UT Comic TV, or Hub Cinema, or anyone like that to use their content. They aren’t the problem here, and as far as I’m concerned are also victims of this ring of entrepreneurs.

Perhaps the most sinister thing they are guilty of is asking permission of YouTubers who are younger, like say 13 and 14 years old. Comic dubbers this young are not old enough to monetize their own videos, without getting their parents or guardians involved. So these channels are using the content of those who do not or cannot monetize their videos in order to make money. And you’ll notice in that email up there, they never once mention the fact that they monetize their videos.

So that is why I don’t like compilation channels, and why I will never give my permission for one to use my content. They claim to be about supporting content creators, but at best they’re making free money off other people’s work with their permission. At worst they’re outright stealing other people’s work, and making as much money as they can before they get shut down and have to start over.

Just as I’m not trying to call out those who contribute videos to them, I’m not writing all this to scold everybody who subscribes to these compilation channels or watches their videos. What I am saying is...be careful. Know what these channels are about. There are a lot of web pages and groups out there who use whatever content they can find to get clicks and generate revenue. Not just on YouTube, but all over the Internet now. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest. Tumblr itself is also fraught with uncredited content taken and repackaged to attract notes (this is also known as “freebooting”).