YouTube sues alleged copyright troll over extortion of multiple YouTubers



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YouTube is going after an alleged copyright troll using the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's (DMCA) provisions, alleging that Christopher Brady used false copyright strikes to extort YouTube creators, harming the company in the process. Now, YouTube is suing Brady, using the DMCA's provisions against fraudulent takedown claims, seeking compensatory damages and an injunction against future fraudulent claims.

The lawsuit, first spotted by Adweek reporter Shoshana Wodinsky, alleges that Brady feels multiple complaints claiming that a couple of Minecraft YouTubers gaming – "Kenzo" and "ObbyRaidz" – copyrighted material in January. (Their legal names were not listed in the lawsuit.) Posted by admin at 9:00 AM 0 comments Email This BlogThis!

ObbyRaidz was sent a message from Brady, according to the lawsuit, which stated if the YouTuber did not pay Brady $ 150 via PayPal (or $ 75 in bitcoin), he would issue a third copyright strike. This would essentially terminate ObbyRaidz 'channel and remove all of its videos from the platform. Kenzo was sent a similar message, but Brady requested $ 300. ObbyRaidz spoke about the situation in a video, noting that he made multiple attempts to get in touch with someone at YouTube but did not make any progress.

"Brady has submitted these notices as part of a scheme to harbad and extort money from the fact that he falsely accused of infringement," the lawsuit reads.

It was not until ObbyRaidz and Kenzo spoke about the alleged extortion on their individual YouTube channels that YouTube's team learned about the issue, according to the lawsuit. Still, the company says that Brady continues to go after the members of the YouTube gaming community. He allegedly feels the copyright takedown notices to YouTube between June 29th and July 3rd, stating that YouTuber "Cxlvxn" infringed on his content.

"Brady's extortionate and harbading activities described here, at least in part, be motivated by his failings in his Minecraft interactions," the lawsuit reads.

Copyright claim abuse – often referred to as the YouTube community – is a big issue on the platform. Third-party companies and aggressors will often use the tactics of making a statement. Sometimes creators will weaponize the ability to make a claim while feuding with another creator.

"We are regularly terminating the accounts of those who misuse our copyright system," spokesperson told The Verge. "In this case of particularly egregious abuse, where the copyright removal process has been used for extortion, we believe that it is possible to pursue this policy and make it clear that we do not tolerate abuse of our platform or its users."

Brady's box seems to be unusual in a number of respects. YouTube also alleges that Brady used to "at least 15 different online identities, all of which YouTube traced back to him," in order to serve various copyright infringement claims. The time spent on the investigation has led to an increase in the number of people living in poverty. YouTube may be "unable to detect and prevent similar misconduct in the future."

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