YouTube is taking action against an alleged internet troll who has made false copyright strikes against YouTube creators in the Minecraft gaming genre.
YouTube is using the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) in a lawsuit against Christopher Brady. The lawsuit alleges that Brady sent communication to YouTubers, including Kenzo and ObbyRaidz claiming that they were infringing on his copyrighted material in their videos.
At that time, YouTube’s copyright policy required that videos with a copyright claim against them had to be taken down. After the original videos were removed from their respective videos, Brady then allegedly sent messages to the owners of the videos. In the messages, he demanded money, threatening to send a third copyright strike to each if they refused to pay.
“Brady has submitted these notices as part of a scheme to harass and extort money from the users that he falsely accuses of infringement,” the lawsuit reads.
After both of the YouTube users created videos about their experiences, YouTube took action. Brady continued to send messages to other users in the same Minecraft community.
Copyright claim abuse has been an ongoing issue on YouTube.
“We regularly terminate accounts of those that misuse our copyright system,” a YouTube spokesperson told The Verge. “In this case of particularly egregious abuse, where the copyright removal process was used for extortion, we felt compelled to pursue further legal action and make it clear that we do not tolerate abuse of our platform or its users.”
Recently, YouTube has revised their copyright policies – read about those changes HERE. While the changes specifically mention using copyrighted music in videos, the changes could also make it possible for those who are victims of copyright claim abuse to keep their videos published and fight back against attacks.
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