Millions of creators make their significant others a big part of their content. So what happens when they break up?

Nearly half of small businesses in the United States are family businesses–and, more often than not, founders’ significant others play key roles in those companies. In the creator industry, it’s no different: there are millions of content creators whose partners are involved in sharing the workload of their channels, either as onscreen co-stars or as offscreen camerapeople, producers, and managers. (Or, sometimes, as all of the above.)

So what happens if they break up?

Well, legally speaking, it all gets very messy very quickly. That’s according to longtime creator lawyer Jonathan Katz, who has represented a number of clients in this exact situation.

The first thing to think about, he says, is who actually owns the rights to the channel’s content. You may look at a channel where one person is its entire onscreen presence, and the channel is named after them, and there has never been another person present on camera with them, and think the channel is obviously theirs.

“But, generally speaking, in the world of copyright, whoever is holding the camera owns the rights to the images that are produced,” Katz says. “The subject of the images also has a bunch of rights, but those rights get entangled really quickly.”

That means without any prior legal agreement in place, “Instagram boyfriends“–the trope where creators get their S.O.s to just hold their phone and film/take photos of them–could end up having more rights to content than the creators themselves, Katz says.

As for couples who star onscreen together, because a lot of them start making content as just a fun thing to do together without any real anticipation of turning it into a lucrative career, they don’t often have legal agreements in place when the channel does take off and starts bringing in cash.

However couples split work on a channel, if it has value, it becomes an asset in their relationship–and in their breakup.

But how much value?

“My office regularly gets calls of, ‘Oh my god, my boyfriend and I just broke up and he locked me out of my YouTube channel, he locked me out of my Instagram account,” Katz says.

He solves that problem by working directly with Google and Meta and asking them to re-enable his clients’ access to their accounts. That’s a short-term solution, though; in the long term, creators need to decide how to split that account, that asset, in a way that makes sure both parties are compensated for their involvement.

“Often the way that these things get issued is that one party just takes control of the account and is required to pay out some equity percentage over time,” Katz says. Creators are basically buying out their former significant others so they’ll have sole ownership of the content.

Those sorts of negotiations start with figuring out the channel’s value. This is part of what Katz does, and it’s usually not easy, because not only does he have to look at what the channel was making up until the breakup, but he has to look at earning potential moving forward.

If one partner was an “Instagram husband” who didn’t have a material onscreen presence, their departure from the channel likely won’t affect its earning potential, and Katz can value it based on average revenue. But if both partners had a significant onscreen presence and their channel was called something like “JennyAndJax” or “KaylaAnnaCouple,” a breakup where one half of the onscreen talent leaves could gut future revenue. In that scenario, the channel’s valuation could tank, and aside from splitting revenue already earned (which is a whole other legal process, one we’re not getting into here), the departing creator might not get much out of the channel.

“The channel had one level of earnings and one level of value because the audience was interested in that couple’s journey,” Katz says. “Whatever valuation you might reasonably come up with, if I say the channel’s worth whatever it was earning over the past 12 months times three, using that 3x multiplier presumes that it’ll continue earning on its current trajectory. Except, if both parties are regularly on camera and one of them no longer is, that channel is no longer providing its audience a hopeful, positive representation of a happy couple. So in that instance, the channel valuation is going to be wildly off. It may only be worth a third or a quarter post-divorce.”

There are yet more factors to consider. If couples worked together on channels that were more utility-driven than personality-driven (for example, if they make Kurzgesagt-style educational content where they don’t make their relationship part of the channel’s central appeal), the valuation might still hold steady post-breakup.

And, occasionally, there are creators who are able to transition a couple account to a solo account and keep growing their audience. The Wall Street Journal recently pointed to Kat Stickler, who used to share a TikTok account and YouTube channel called MikeAndKat with her partner. When they divorced, they decided she would keep the TikTok account. She changed its name to her name and grew it to over 10 million followers, staying a full-time content creator and using her revenue to become a small business investor. Mike got the YouTube account, and it’s now defunct. He works in sales.

@katstickler Mommy makeover but make it fun 🫶🏻💕 @loréal paris usa #LorealParisPartner #LOrealParisHairColor ♬ original sound – Kat

With all this in mind, how can savvy creators protect themselves from future breakup woes? It may not feel great to prepare for the end of a romantic relationship if that relationship feels good and solid, but setting protections for both partners is a safety net: hopefully you won’t need it, but it’s there in case you do.

“Setting up employment agreements, putting the channel and business into a company is the first step” when creators want their significant others to get involved in their content, Katz says. “It’s absolutely mandatory. Creators who don’t do this always suffer. Having everybody who works on the channel have what’s essentially contractor agreements or release agreements, so anything they create for the channel becomes the property of the company, is absolutely crucial.”

In cases where those sorts of contracts are in place, the channel becomes “a complete and cohesive entity that owns all of the assets and can then be transferable,” Katz adds. (It’s worth noting these agreements aren’t just for significant others; it’s smart to put them in place with any family member or friend who gets involved.)

Ultimately, “It is an outrageous vulnerability of personality- and relationship-driven channels that those relationships might end,” he says.

That vulnerability shouldn’t discourage creators from making content they love with the people they love–but it should remind them to make sure they and their channels are protected, legally, for the long-term.