TikTok is paying its top UK creators for the first time

TikTok has started directly paying its creators in the United Kingdom for the first time.

Following in the footsteps of the likes of YouTube and Instagram, it has made a fund of £54 million available to share among its top content makers in Europe.

Previously, users only made money with live-streaming or brand partnerships.

A similar fund was launched in the United States last month, with the amount given to creators expected to be close to $1 billion over the next three years.

The news comes just weeks after the company said it would be suing US president Donald Trump's administration over attempts to ban the app in the country.

London based comedian, Sherice Banton, has been making videos on TikTok for four years and has over 1.7 million followers.

"The fund basically gives people the opportunity, when you've got ten thousand followers and ten thousand views in the last 30 days, to be part of it," she said.

"The pay is performance based so you have to be producing good quality content to receive any of the benefits.

"I think it's good to have the incentive there to really put out our best work, a win-win situation for TikTok and its creators," she added.

Comedian Sherice Banton has had 70 million likes on TikTok

Florence Simpson, a body confidence creator with over 600,000 followers, shares Banton's optimism.

"I was spread so thin - it's taken a bit of pressure off of me knowing that I might be able to leave my job at some point and do this full time", she said.

TikTok wouldn't say how much money each creator could expect to get as a member of the fund.

A spokesperson told Newsround: "It will be based on each individual creator's video views, so will be performance related."

However, some creators who have already been benefitting from the US fund have revealed how much they're being paid.

American author and Youtuber Hank Green - who has almost 1 million followers on TikTok - posted his earnings on Twitter.

He said he'd earned 3.5 cents per thousands views. He explained that his month total of 20 million views was worth close to $700 (£537).

Up until this point, creators on the app have made lots of their money by working with big brands who pay them to either create or advertise products.

James Lewis has three million followers on TikTok thanks to his eye catch artwork

One of these creators is Cardiff based graphic designer, James Lewis, who has three million followers on TikTok.

"The majority of content creators are already viewing it as a career," said James.

"I've been creating art on various platforms for the last seven years and it's something I'd have continued to do whether or not this fund happened."

James explained that he makes a lot of his income as a result of his popularity on TikTok.

"You can promote music and make a few hundred pounds that way. I've designed clothing ranges and art works for product launches and earned ten times that amount," he said.

Sherice agrees: "I've been lucky enough to leave my job and go full time as a TikTok creator thanks to my relationships and deals with brands."

Florence Simpson only joined TikTok four months ago and already has over 600,000 followers

For Florence, it's all about keeping as many options open as possible for the future.

"If you have your heart set on becoming something like a doctor or a lawyer I wouldn't change that because of this.

"I still want to do my masters in law and I still really enjoy what I'm doing.

"I feel like this isn't going to last forever and I need something to fall back on if it doesn't," she added.

TikTok is facing competition from social media rivals, after Facebook owned Instagram launched its own 15-second video sharing platform called Reels.

It has reportedly been offering money to popular TikTok users to start using Reels instead.