So if he were to post my boatrace in one of his click baity videos saying 'Watch me dispense justice to hideous Cheater' as an advert you could potentially get his video copyright struck....
It would not be copyright, as you can’t copyright your face. However you don’t actually need to be a copyright holder to instigate a copyright breach !!!
How they generate their income may vary, if YouTube monetisation then a breach claim will put a hold on it, if they are ‘giving a message from our sponsor’ then they have had that paid .... but want the next videos money to come, if they are promoting their website / products then it’s the potential sales or clicks that follow
There is a whole subject of discussion though.
My face has appeared on TV, and I did not sign an explicit release. On the day of filming our main ‘face’ did need to sign all the legal papers granting permissions - he was all over the programme, I was in a scene, he was a subject expert, named & spoke, I was a random character, uncredited and silent. He gave legally documented consent, I gave implied consent.
I’ve been the subject of ‘modelling’ shoots with my sponsor - and not signed papers - but consent was there and our faces weren't shown. Both sponsor and team have copies of the pictures - used both by them and also us in event promos etc
I could be called the face of a particular merchandise, due to drinking from my new mug straight away. (It may have been my suggestion that the photo be used so I can’t claim back on that!)
An advertising agency will want to see model releases to protect themselves, but the lack of paperwork doesn’t mean the consent didn’t exist