A Spanish YouTuber is taking Google Spain to court accusing it of unfair dismissal, in a case that could set a legal precedent for the labor rights of content creators, Spanish trade union UGT said today.

“I have no choice but to bring YouTube to the dock,” wrote Jota (@Jota_POV), on social media.

The lawsuit seeks to show an employment relationship between Jota, a creator of political satire content whose real name has not been disclosed, and Alphabet’s YouTube because he regularly provided his services and was paid from advertising revenue, according to with the UGT.

Google Spain blocked Jota’s YouTube channel, called “Último Bastión” (Last Bastion), with around 18,000 followers, from which it receives advertising revenue in August. He claims the company withdrew money that had already been deposited into his YouTube payments account.

“We consider this a termination of employment,” his lawyer Bernardo Garcia told Reuters. He also said he is asking the court to declare the employment relationship between Jota and YouTube and his current dismissal “unfair”

Jota’s channel posts satirical political videos, created using material from official channels such as parliament and municipal authorities. In addition, subtitles and special effects are added.

Garcia and the union did not comment on why advertising revenue was cut from his channel.

For its part, Google says that content creators are not employees and that in this particular case Jota’s channel did not comply with YouTube’s financial benefit policies.

“We are deeply committed to the success of creators, which is why we share the majority of revenue with them. We gather a lot of feedback when we meet with hundreds of creators every year. However, contrary to what they claim, they are not YouTube employees based on the nature of the relationship,” Google Spain points out in an emailed statement.

The hearing is scheduled for June 26, 2024 in a Madrid court.