Updated | Maltese YouTubers to finally get paid for online content

Maltese YouTubers will be able to start getting paid for their online video content, as the company plans to launch its YouTube Partnership Programme this week

Last year, YouTube announced the launch of a country specific version and local domain for Malta, making it easier for users to discover local content. The launch of the local version was also a prerequisite for local creators being able to monetize on their work.

“We have heard loud and clear the requests from our local community in Malta and we hope that with a dedicated domain and the upcoming open up of the YouTube Partnership Programme (YPP) in September, we help paving the way for the work of more Maltese creators, artists and musicians to shine on the world most vibrant video community,” YouTube had said in a statement back in June.

Parliamentary Secretary for Digital Innovationn Silvio Schembri said he was delighted to announce that the YouTube Partnership Programme - which allows content creators to earn money from their work - will be available in Malta as of this Thursday. 

"Maltese will now be paid for their artistic work uploaded on YouTube like any other European. Another step towards offering further opportunities in the tech industry," Schembri said in a tweet. 

In a statement, Nationalist MEP Francis Zammit Dimech said that a year after he had promised YouTubers in Malta that he will work for them to get paid, this was becoming a reality. 

“Maltese YouTubers will finally be paid for content they generate and share online,” Zammit Dimech said, adding that he remained committed to working in favour of Maltese artists and content creators.

READ MORE: Google, YouTube snubbing Maltese content creators… and they won’t say why   

The MEP’s remarks come after he was “informed that YouTube will be launching the YouTube Partnership Programme (YPP) this week”.

Zammit Dimech said that after meeting with YouTube last year, he had held further meetings with the company in February, where he was assured that “legal challenges were being overcome to launch the monetisation programme within few months”.

He thanked Google for “taking the right steps” to unlock the YouTube partnership programme after the successful launch of the local version of YouTube.

“These are both important steps making local content online more easily accessible for users thus further promoting content of local creators including several artists. He said this was also crucial to support young budding artists," he said.  

Last year, Zammit Dimech organised a training session for the Maltese YouTube community and invited YouTube experts to share their expertise with various Maltese and Gozitan content creators to get to know more on how to strengthen their voice online through a number of workshops targeting different levels of expertise.

READ MORE: Maltese YouTubers could soon get paid for online work

Zammit Dimech also thanked Partit Nazzjonalista’s Spokesperson for Culture and Media Therese Comodini Cachia, who has also worked for this to materialise, including during her stint as MEP in the light of her responsibility in leading the Copyright Reform.

'An end to discrimination against Maltese YouTubers' - government

In a subsequent statement, Schembri's secretariat said those that create online material will now have access to more tools and resources in order to maximise the use of their content on YouTube. 

"The government recognises the efforts made by  Google in order for YouTube to have a specific version for Malta, the same as is happening in another ninety states," read the statement. "This means an end to the discrimination faced by  Maltese YouTube users - it is now going to  be easier for the talent and content producers to be reached and remunerated on a national scale."

Schembri was quoted expressing his satisfaction at the fact that the government's "work with Google bore fruit", adding that such work was key to ensuring that the benefits of the digital economy reach Maltese and Gozitan citizens.  

The government said it would be organising an activity for YouTube users to provide further information on the programme, in order to make it possible for Maltese artists to exploit and make the best use of the tools provided by the programme.