The Depp v. Heard trial led to huge income boosts for law YouTubers. Here's how much some of the top livestreamers earned.

• The controversial Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard case played out across social media for six weeks.
• Lawyers on YouTube have been livestreaming and providing commentary during almost every trial date.

For law YouTubers, or "lawtubers," streaming and analyzing high profile cases is not only their craft, but it's cultivated a flourishing community online.

One that literally pays them back for their entertainment and expertise.

According to YouTube trend analysis site Playboard, the top-earning creators over the last month from Super Chat revenue — or revenue generated from tips during livestreams — are Emily D. Baker, LegalBytes, and Rekieta Law. The three channels have all recently and exclusively been streaming the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation case.

A rep for Playboard told Insider they use bots to analyze real-time data and earnings from YouTube's Super Chat feature. Its analytics show that all three lawtubers have seen tremendous growth to their accounts since livestreaming almost the entirety of the Depp-Heard trial.

Super Chat is a livestream feature offered to most creators who are able to monetize their channels. During a livestream, fans can pay anywhere from $1 to $500 to highlight and pin their comment to the creator. YouTube takes 30% of the total earnings during a stream, and the creator pockets 70% after Apple app store processing fees (30%) and local sales tax.

Here's roughly how much each top lawtuber made from fan donations toward their Depp-Heard streams and legal commentary.

1. Emily D. Baker

Baker is a 43-year-old former district's attorney who left her job in 2017 due to health conditions. She soon discovered that she could continue to litigate high profile cases — and from the comforts of her home — on YouTube. She told Insider in April that she makes more from providing legal commentary than she ever did in her 15 years as a trial lawyer.

Baker made about $270,000 last year, and more than half of her YouTube salary comes directly from livestreaming and Super Chat contributions.

Playboard reported $240,216 in total Super Chat tips between April 11 and June 1. Baker, however, told Insider that Playboard's number is invariably higher than what her internal analytics show because it does not account for YouTube's cut. After Insider subtracted 30% from that estimate, the number was roughly $168,000, which Baker confirmed was much closer to what she made.

"The number they are showing is a good bit higher than what I am showing for Super Chat numbers," Baker said. "Since a lot of my videos on this trial don't have ads on them due to the subject matter discussed, it's been simply incredible to see the Law Nerd community support me as an independent content creator."

Baker said her livestream during the announcement of the verdict brought in 370,000 concurrent viewers — a career high.

She added that the tremendous support — both vocally and monetarily — from her devoted viewers has offered everyone a new platform to engage with dense legal matters in this country.

"The interest in this trial has expanded my audience and I am grateful so many have found a place where they can learn about the law as I break down pop-culture cases," she said. "The internet continues to open up new ways to engage with information. Legal analysis is no longer confined to a 5-minute segment or a 30-minute show."

2. LegalBytes

Another breakout creator from the trial is Alyte Mazeika, known to her subscribers as LegalBytes.

Mazeika was arguably one of the first creators to commit to gavel-to-gavel streams weeks before the trial formally began.

It was something of a herculean feat: her daily streams (except for Fridays) were upwards of 11 hours long. But they served her channel well. In the second week of testimony, Mazeika had 64,000 subscribers and told Insider that she'd made $5,000 in one week, predominantly via Super Chat.

Today, Mazeika has 243,000 subscribers, and told Insider that for the month of April, she made $47,122. While that figure represents all revenue streams on YouTube, the majority come from Super Chat. Insider verified Mazeika's earnings with documents she provided.

Throughout the duration of the trial, from April 11 to June 1, Playboard pegs Mazeika's pre-fee revenues at $233,643, which suggests her channel grew exponentially in the month of May. In addition to live streams, Mazeika published video-on-demand recaps for each trial day, which contributed to earnings in the form of AdSense as well.

Her most popular broadcast occurred on Day 20 of the trial, during which time she was joined to react to expert testimony from a particularly colorful witness, Dr. David Spiegel.

After taking a beat to reboot post-verdict, Mazeika recently returned to her channel to respond to outstanding Super Chats that she hadn't yet responded to – a show of gratitude to fans who supported her throughout the trial.

3. Rekieta Law

Nick Rekieta, also known as Rekeita Law on YouTube, is a practicing attorney in Minnesota and a veteran of the trial-streaming format.

In fact, in an April interview with Insider, Mazeika said she caught the bug after guesting on Rekieta's streams of the Kyle Rittenhouse trial, which were garnering six-figure concurrent counts as well.

Throughout the duration of the trial, Playboard pegs Rekieta's total Super Chat donations at $193,137. Rekieta told Insider that his Super Chat earnings for the period amounted to $135,259, before federal and state income taxes. Insider verified the figure with screenshots he provided.

That said, there are some slight caveats. In addition to his trial streams, Rekieta – a self-described lawsplainer who frequently breaks down legal issues over scotch – does a nightly show that isn't necessarily linked to the Depp vs. Heard, he said.

And while he saw a spike during the trial like his colleagues, Rekieta is something of a Super Chat veteran.

If looking just at US creators, he's been in Playboard's list of the top 10 Super Chat earners every month this year. In November 2021, the month of the Rittenhouse trial, he was the top Super Chat earner worldwide, per Playboard, with $148,747 before fees.