Should All Videos Be Deleted When a Couple YouTuber Breaks Up? Points to Decide While Things Are Still Amicable

So-called “Couple YouTubers,” who create videos as boyfriends, girlfriends, or spouses, are highly popular as a genre on YouTube.

However, once a YouTube channel grows to a certain scale, such as having at least 100,000 subscribers, it transcends the level of a “couple’s hobby” and takes on the personalityistics of a “business,” for better or worse. This is true not only for YouTube but for all “businesses” in general. Joint ventures that start without clear contractual relationships or rules tend to develop cracks due to changes in circumstances after the fact.

In particular, “Couple YouTubers” are prone to major problems in various areas, such as the handling of past videos, future channel operations, and revenue distribution, especially when human relationships break down, i.e., when they break up or divorce.

What kind of problems can arise, and how should they be resolved? This article will provide an overview.

Characteristics of ‘Joint Ventures’ and Couple YouTubers

Just like with couple YouTubers, it’s ‘difficult’ but important to anticipate ‘breakdowns due to personal relationships’ when starting any joint venture. Most joint ventures begin with the expectation that ‘the foundational relationships will be long-lasting, and the business will continue to succeed.’ However, these ‘expectations’ are not always realized.

Couple YouTubers represent a joint venture between two individuals. However, due to the system of YouTube, the ‘owner’ of the channel and the person receiving ad revenue from the videos on that channel will be one of the two. In this context, it is common for the one person to, for example,

• Pay a certain percentage of the revenue to the other
• Grant ‘manager’ rights, which are lower than ‘owner’ rights

In this way, many cases involve both members of the couple jointly operating a single channel.

Issues Arising from the Breakup of Couple YouTubers

When a couple breaks up, the following issues may arise in this relationship:

1. Regarding the future operation of the channel, the channel essentially belongs to the ‘owner’, so the other party cannot gain any rights and may end up ‘losing’ a channel with increasing subscribers.
2. Regarding the advertising revenue generated from past videos, this revenue is basically transferred to an account that the ‘owner’ can set, so the other party will not be able to receive the revenue.
3. Regarding past videos, the other party may claim rights such as portrait rights and demand deletion. If this request is complied with, there is a risk that the promised video publication status with the client for the so-called case video cannot be maintained.

Below, we will explain in detail about the second and third issues mentioned above.

How is Video Revenue Distributed After a Breakup?

Regarding the second issue, the claim that “the advertising revenue generated from the videos I appeared in should also be paid to me” is likely to be legally organized as “unjust enrichment”.

Article 703 of the Japanese Civil Code (Obligation to Return Unjust Enrichment)
A person who has benefited from the property or labor of another without a legal cause and has caused loss to the other person (hereinafter referred to as the “beneficiary” in this chapter) is obliged to return this to the extent that the benefit exists.

In other words, one party, who is the ‘owner’ of the channel, will receive all the revenue generated from the video due to the other party’s appearance and editing actions without a contract (without a legal cause). Part of this is the ‘benefit’ received ‘due to the labor’ of the other party, and this must be paid to the other party, according to this logic.

However, if organized in this way, the amount that can be claimed is not an amount such as ‘●% (for example, 50%) of the revenue (sales) transferred from YouTube’, but an amount such as ‘a proportion of the profit, that is, the amount after deducting expenses from sales, according to one’s contribution’. In other words, it is not a logic like ‘since the channel was jointly operated by two people, the distribution of profits should be 50% each in principle’, but ‘how much profit is made and how much I contribute to it’, the claimant has to argue and prove from scratch.

Therefore,

• Discussions such as ‘how much are the expenses’
• How much is my contribution, for example, how much time I appeared, how much work I did in processes other than appearance such as editing, etc.

are expected to arise, and the distribution logic is expected to become quite complicated. Having to conduct such complex negotiations after a breakup is likely to be a significant burden for both parties in practice.

Past Video Deletion and Client Cases After Breakup

Also, regarding the third issue, once broken up, all past videos should be deleted… such a way of thinking is possible. However, in the case of so-called corporate projects, it is not uncommon to make a contract such as ‘continue to publish the video without deleting it for 12 months’ in exchange for receiving a fee. In such cases,

• In the relationship with the other party of the couple, deletion may be demanded by claiming rights such as portrait rights
• The client of the corporate project may demand that the video be continued to be published without deletion

and there is a possibility of being ‘caught in the middle’.

What are the “Agreements” that should be made while things are still amicable?

Not only for couple YouTubers, but in any “joint venture”, it is important to make “agreements” while the relationship is still amicable to prevent major problems in case the relationship breaks down.

This “agreement” is better to be made in a contract, in terms of “the fact that an agreement was made” and “the clarity of the content of the agreement”. However, in reality, there may be a psychological resistance to making a contract between couples.

However, a contract can be established without a “contract document”. For example, it is better than doing nothing to send a bulleted list of “agreements” on LINE, receive a reply on LINE saying “that’s fine”, and save screenshots of it.

Specifically, the matters that should be agreed upon are thought to be related to the following items.

Agreement on the ownership of the channel

The point of who “owns” the channel itself. For example, an agreement on who can continue to operate a channel that has gained hundreds of thousands of registrations as a couple YouTuber as a personal channel after a breakup.

Agreement on the distribution of video revenue (past)

As mentioned above, advertising revenue initially belongs to the “owner (the account holder designated by the owner)” of the channel. On this basis, how to distribute the revenue. This is largely about:

• What: Is it revenue (sales itself) or profit (the amount deducted from sales)?
• How: Is it a common percentage for all videos, or does it change depending on the video (for example, if the editing is shared for each video, a distribution like “60% for the side who did the editing, 40% for the side who didn’t” is possible)

It’s a problem of how to distribute it. Even if the couple breaks up and there are no new videos shot by the two, revenue will continue to be generated from the videos uploaded before the breakup.

Agreement on portrait rights

It would be better to agree on whether or not to delete videos shot and uploaded before the breakup in case of a breakup. Especially, this could be a big problem for client projects as mentioned above. For example, an agreement like “delete normal videos, but don’t delete project videos” would be effective.

The necessity of creating a “contract”

For these agreements, it is clearer and better to create a “contract” for:

• The fact that the agreement was formally agreed upon in the first place
• What the details of the agreement are (for example, if the agreement is to “split 50%”, does that mean “split the sales (revenue)” or “split the profit (after deducting expenses)”)

As mentioned above, in general, a contract can be established without a “contract”, but a contract without a contract document can inevitably cause doubts about the above points in case of trouble afterwards.

Although it is a theme common to prenuptial agreements and the like, if the relationship allows for calm discussion, it is better to make agreements clearly in the form of a “contract” to prevent trouble from becoming serious in case of a possible breakup in the future.

Specificity in the Case of Married YouTubers

While this article has been discussing scenarios involving couples who are not married, there are unique circumstances when it comes to married couples.

Japanese Civil Code Article 754 (Right to Cancel Contracts Between Spouses)
Contracts made between spouses can be cancelled at any time during the marriage by either spouse. However, this cannot infringe upon the rights of third parties.

Although this provision has been limited in its effect by court precedents, it allows for unilateral cancellation of contracts between spouses at any time according to the text of the law. This means that even if an agreement like the one mentioned above is made, there is a risk that the effectiveness of the agreement could be nullified if one party unilaterally cancels it, such as when cracks begin to appear in the marital relationship.

As this would lead to a discussion based on general theories about prenuptial agreements and agreements between spouses, we will omit the details in this article. In conclusion, it may be better to establish a corporation, operate a married YouTuber channel as a corporate business, and consider how to distribute profits from the corporation to the individual husband and wife.

Conclusion

Although it may be repetitive, it is crucial in a joint venture to establish rules about how the business will be handled if the relationship breaks down while things are still amicable. Furthermore, operating a YouTube channel should be considered a business, not just a hobby, especially after the number of channel subscribers increases. This applies equally to couple YouTubers, and it can be said that it is important to properly establish rules on each point explained in this article.

Moreover, these agreements are based on the uniqueness of a “joint venture” and a business conducted in the online space of “YouTube”. Therefore, it is important to consult with a lawyer who specializes in these areas.

Introduction to Our Firm’s Measures

Monolith Law Office is a legal office with high expertise in both IT, particularly the internet, and law. While being a popular couple YouTuber is commendable, there are legal risks involved. Especially when money is involved, it can potentially become a major issue in the future. Our firm also handles legal matters for YouTubers and VTubers. Please refer to the article below for more details.