Business and Legal Issues for Content Creators
Social media influencers are one of the most underrated creators of effective marketing for small and large businesses and and corporations. We spoke to two experts who are content creators and attorneys who represent and provide guidance to content creators to better understand the industry. They explained the business and legal issues content creators face, including copyright and intellectual property infringement.
Tyler Chou
Tyler Chou is an attorney and the CEO and Founder of Tyler Chou Law For Creators in Los Angeles, California. Ms. Chou graduated from University of California, Berkeley and Loyola Law School. She is extremely passionate about advocacy; she is a Board Member of AMEC’s Women Who Lead, and has over 10 years experience volunteering for the Sojourn Women’s Shelter Against Domestic Violence. Prior to focusing her legal practice on content creators, Ms. Chou Furthermore, Chou is extremely accomplished in her career with 20 years experience of practicing law in Hollywood. Chou worked as an entertainment attorney with Walt Disney Studios, Skydance Media, and BuzzFeed, among others. Chou was the lead attorney on 16 feature films, including Saving Mr. Banks and Cinderella (live-action). Ms. Chou also has a YouTube channel: Tyler Chou, The Creators’ Attorney. Her mission is to protect and support creators, and help them make money and protect their intellectual property (Chou, Tyler, n.d.).
Kameron Buckner
Kameron Buckner is an attorney, content creator, and influencer marketing consultant. She graduated from Kennesaw State University and Cumberland School of Law. Ms. Buckner has had 10 years of influencer marketing experience, working with brands such as Dove, Nikon, and Ulta Beauty. Ms. Buckner provides guidance to content creators on a range of business and legal issues, including contract and document review, and strategic negotiation strategies, through her businesses, The Legal Tea and Social Docket Dialogue. Ms. Buckner also has a YouTube channel: Kameron Monet.
We asked Tyler Chou what are some of the best and worst ways for content creators to make money. Brand deals are a key way for content creators to make money, so we asked Kameron Bucker to explain how typical brand deals work, step by step, from start to finish.
We wanted to learn why some content creators succeed, and where some creators go wrong. Ms. Chou explained that successful YouTubers tend to be obsessed with their audience. She also described the most common business and legal mistakes made by content creators.
Influencer Stolen Content
Content creators often report that businesses and brands are using their content without asking for permission, capitalizing off of influencers’ work, creating, and their followers without compensating the influencers (Yurieff, 2019). For example, influencer Chelsie Petras discovered that her Instagram pictures were being used with her consent for an advertisement. The brand not only used her images, but they also fabricated a fake testimonial from Chelsie (Yurieff, 2019). A small TikTok influencer, Sydsinternet, discovered that a large hair care brand stole her hair content for their content page. Through an internet search she discovered the brands’ link and when she clicked the link to the hair care brands’ content page, the video that popped up was her own personal video. https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTjRynpqD/.
When brands steal content, they may be violating several laws such as: (1) the right to publicity which protects a content creator's name, image, voice and likeness; (2) false endorsement - a content creator has a right to not be associated with a brand falsely; and (3) perhaps a breach of the terms of service on Instagram, YouTube, or TikTok - these platforms prohibit using other people’s content without permission.
Ms. Buckner explained that stolen content indeed has been a problem in the influencer community, and the steps an influencer might take to be compensated and avoid litigation for intellectual property and copyright infringement.
Finally, Ms. Buckner likes to say that the law was not built for content creators. She explained why.
References
Buckner, Kameron. (n.d.). About. Kameron Monet. https://www.kameronmonet.com/about
Buckner, Kameron. (2024, February 10). When a brand tells you “we don’t have the budget to pay you” but you see them running ads using your content [Video]. TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTjRA7Ans/
Buckner, Kameron. How to Do Taxes for the First Time as a New Business Owner https://youtu.be/b7lz59u6XHs?si=iffmKkOCOAfXq2E8
Chou, Tyler (n.d.). Tyler Chou Law for Creators. Retrieved April 13, 2025, from https://www.tylerchoulaw.com
Chou, Tyler. Which copyright mistakes to avoid. https://youtu.be/SL1jJn1GHug?si=5AwrpGnxDOFFBG1I
Chou, Tyler. Make REAL Money as Creators. https://youtu.be/24zeFwMgAvE?si=TnhaMdM0FuTN_U2_
Enberg, Jasmine (May 27, 2024). The Ways Creators Make Money Is Changing: https://www.emarketer.com/content/way-creators-make-money-changing
Yurieff, K. (2019, December 6). This tool helps influencers fight back when their content is stolen. CNN Business. https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/06/tech/influencers-brands-stealing-content/index.html
Sydsinternet2024, Feb. 27). Tiktok. https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTjRynpqD/