Hi all,
I have something to say about YouTube videos showcasing mods created by other people (modders).
This problem has been going on for a long long time, and I feel like there's not much we can do about this. The image speaks for itself. YouTubers with a lot of subscribers are earning (a lot of) money with mods created by us, modders. This topic is not only made to focus on my mods, but on EVERY mod from ANYONE experiencing this.
Recently I made a mod called 'Las Venturas & San Fierro DLC' for GTA 5. This project took me another month, while I have other mods taking me more than a few months. I mostly don't get a single penny for all this work, except for my one GTA: Dubai Islands premium version which costs 1$. 7 people have downloaded this, which means I got 7 dollars. But I don't care about the money, that's really NOT my issue, please believe me on that.
Though, there are some people who do care about money. And sometimes, they are earning it the wrong way. They make a video on your mod and earn lots of money from donations/advertentions/YouTube partnership or whatever, WITHOUT GIVING PROPER CREDIT. Often those YouTubers don't tell anything about the mod creator and don't give any link to the mod download page, author,...
This is happening a lot on various mods from a lot of modders.
Yes, you could say: "Then create your own video." My answer to that: Firstly, yes I do. But I don't have the amount of subscribers or power on YouTube to get lots of views and so on. Secondly, this is not my point. They can create a video all they want, the video belongs to them! The problem is there is often absolutely NO CREDIT and they are earning tons of money on something I put months of time in, and the YouTuber only a few hours or maybe less. I feel like this is not fair to any of the mod creators. Unfortunaly, there is nothing much to do on this as far as I know. If someone has any tips, I would be very thankful.
Here an image showing some YouTuber his video on my mod. This is just an example! He earned more than 500$ only halfway the video. Beneath is my reaction in the video comment section. Apparently, my comment didn't slip through or got deleted. Other accounts don't seem to be able to see my comment (anymore?).

My comment says:
"Hi, thank you for this nice video. But I have something to say. Since I am te creator of this mod, I feel like I need to say this.
Isn't it a little wrong some large YouTubers are getting tons of money from donations from others, while they only made the video but NOT the mod? You don't give credit in the description, and you don't give the link to the mod. Don't get me wrong please, I really like to see people enjoying my mods and showcasing them. But i feel we - modders - (so not only me but a lot of modders), are been taken advantage from. We don't get a single penny for our creations most of the times, and it often takes MONTHS to create them. I have just over 100 subscribers and 1700 on my partner account. I don't have the power you, big YouTubers, do have. I see you receive big donations and just wanted to state this. I feel mod creators are left behind in comparison to YouTubers that create videos but NOT mods. Sometimes YouTubers even act like the mods are theirs... This is so wrong and I just needed to let this out. Sorry if this comes over like a rant. I'm not mad and you didn't do anything wrong (except from not crediting me or mentioning me, or link the mod).
Cheers and happy modding/gaming/content creating
GTA Belgium"
What are your thoughts on this? Sorry for all the negativity, again, I love seeing people enjoy my mods. But when they don't give any credit and earn lots of money, while sometimes even almost acting like it's their own mod, I feel the modding community is being left behind.
Happy modding,
GTA Belgium