▁that ▁did ▁not ▁viol ate ▁copy right s ▁before ▁the ▁case ▁went ▁to ▁trial . ▁ ▁Background ▁ ▁YouTube ▁was ▁founded ▁by ▁Ch ad ▁Hur ley , ▁Steve ▁Chen ▁and ▁J aw ed ▁Kar im , ▁three ▁former ▁employees ▁of ▁Pay Pal . ▁The ▁website ▁was ▁activ ated ▁on ▁February ▁ 1 4 , ▁ 2 0 0 5 , ▁and ▁quickly ▁began ▁to ▁grow ▁– ▁in ▁the ▁six ▁months ▁to ▁July ▁ 2 0 0 6 , ▁traffic ▁to ▁the ▁site ▁grew ▁by ▁ 2 9 7 ▁percent . ▁In ▁October ▁that ▁year , ▁Google ▁bought ▁YouTube ▁for ▁; ▁two ▁months ▁later , ▁Time ▁selected ▁" You " ▁as ▁their ▁ 2 0 0 6 ▁Person ▁of ▁the ▁Year , ▁to ▁recognize ▁the ▁growth ▁of ▁user - generated ▁content ▁on ▁sites ▁such ▁as ▁YouTube . ▁Ref lect ing ▁on ▁the ▁year , ▁Jam ie ▁By r ne , ▁YouTube ' s ▁head ▁of ▁product ▁market ing , ▁remarked : ▁"[ 2 0 0 6 ] ▁was ▁really ▁a ▁pione ering ▁year ▁for ▁online ▁video ▁and ▁for ▁user - generated ▁content ." ▁According ▁to ▁com Score ▁Media ▁Met rix , ▁the ▁website ▁attract ed ▁ 1 3 3 . 5   mill ion ▁visitors ▁world wide ▁during ▁January ▁ 2 0 0 7 . ▁▁ 2 0 0 7 ▁Awards ▁As ▁a ▁result ▁of ▁the ▁growth ▁and ▁success ▁achieved ▁during ▁ 2 0 0 6 , ▁YouTube ▁launched ▁its ▁own ▁awards ▁promotion ▁in ▁March ▁ 2 0 0 7 ▁to ▁recognize ▁the ▁best