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posted by janrinok on Wednesday October 16 2019, @09:52PM   Printer-friendly
from the this-is-not-trolling-this-is-extortion dept.

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow4408

YouTube gets alleged copyright troll to agree to stop trolling YouTubers

Alleged copyright troll Christopher Brady will no longer be able to issue false DMCA takedowns to other YouTubers, according to a lawsuit settlement filed today.

Under the new agreement, Brady is banned from "submitting any notices of alleged copyright infringement to YouTube that misrepresent that material hosted on the YouTube service is infringing copyrights held or claimed to be held by Brady or anyone Brady claims to represent." Brady agreed to pay $25,000 in damages as part of the settlement. He is also prohibited from "misrepresenting or masking their identities" when using Google products, including YouTube.

"This settlement highlights the very real consequences for those that misuse our copyright system. We'll continue our work to prevent abuse of our systems," a YouTube spokesperson told The Verge.

YouTube first sued Brady in August after learning that he targeted a couple of Minecraft and gaming creators — "Kenzo" and "ObbyRaidz" — by using false copyright claim takedowns. The company removed the videos, as the company is required to do when a claim is submitted. YouTube only pursued legal action after it was informed that Brady was allegedly using copyright strikes as a way to pressure creators into paying a lump sum of cash. Brady would allegedly strike two videos on a channel and then demand cash; three strikes on a channel result in it being terminated.

What a piece of garbage.


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  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 16 2019, @09:55PM (6 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 16 2019, @09:55PM (#908017)

    Why no criminal case?

    • (Score: 2, Interesting) by fustakrakich on Wednesday October 16 2019, @11:14PM (4 children)

      by fustakrakich (6150) on Wednesday October 16 2019, @11:14PM (#908052) Journal

      Yes, there is perjury in those false claims. If there are no chagres, it would prove that the DMCA wasn't really designed to serve its publicly stated purpose

      --
      La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 17 2019, @02:11AM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 17 2019, @02:11AM (#908123)

        The perjury clause of the DMCA only applies to individuals issuing claims for their own material. If you issue a claim in someone else's name, the only part under perjury is that you have their permission to use their name, and the claimant is even protected against counter suits for false notices. This is why, for example, Microsoft can have the Business Software Alliance issue DMCA notices to sites hosting OpenOffice without any penalty or recourse.

        • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday October 17 2019, @03:00AM

          by fustakrakich (6150) on Thursday October 17 2019, @03:00AM (#908146) Journal

          That confirms the law was designed with extortion in mind.

          Oh well, not an election issue. We're stuck with it

          --
          La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 17 2019, @07:20AM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 17 2019, @07:20AM (#908211)

        Are there not laws against blackmail ?

        • (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Thursday October 17 2019, @08:11AM

          by maxwell demon (1608) on Thursday October 17 2019, @08:11AM (#908220) Journal

          You are not supposed to discriminate against mail based on its colour. ;-)

          --
          The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 17 2019, @09:34AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 17 2019, @09:34AM (#908228)

      Why no criminal case?

      Because it would open up several cans of legal wormy type things that they'd rather people left nicely sealed and forgotten, tucked away somewhere in that disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard.”?

  • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday October 16 2019, @10:02PM (4 children)

    by JoeMerchant (3937) on Wednesday October 16 2019, @10:02PM (#908024)

    One of my kids has discovered how to "make videos" with his tablet, so he's cheerfully making awful low quality mashups of his favorite PBS shows interspersed with pictures he has drawn and some mostly unintelligible injected dialog - pretty average YouTube fare, from what I've seen.

    Unfortunately, he also doesn't care that they're getting copyright blocked in the US by PBS and he keeps naming them things like "Jojo meets Bob the Builder, Episode 8 Season 5." and within 24 hours or so, they're claimed by PBS and blocked - we're up to something like 60 claims so far, but they also come with a "this isn't going to terminate your channel" message on them, so far....

    I tried disputing one of them, claiming - correctly - that it's fair use as a mashup, which got me a "manual review" by PBS which reiterated their claim. Deep in the realm of: we just don't care where this goes - it's not like we make money off our YouTube ads anyway. Unlike the parents who produce their kids' videos for them and make serious bank from the ads....

    --
    🌻🌻 [google.com]
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 16 2019, @10:23PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 16 2019, @10:23PM (#908030)

      I think it is cool that PBS is wasting money on your kid.
      It strikes me as similar to self-important brand managers running loose at a company, going out and buying everything.xxx they can think of, supposedly to "protect the brand".

    • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 16 2019, @10:59PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 16 2019, @10:59PM (#908044)

      Copyright strikes and copyright claims are different. A claim gives the "owner" (who may or may not actually be the owner) of the content all the monetization rights for the video, but this doesn't affect your account standing and (AFAIK) you still get the ranking credit if the video does well. A strike on the other hand is what counts against you. Unfortunately, it's pretty much up to the whim of the claimant which one it is.

      Since Youtube has essentially no procedure for preventing claims and strikes by basically anyone, and the only recourse is to talk the claimant into releasing the claim/strike (and they are not obligated to do so, or even talk to you), the only realistic solution to the problem is not to publish videos on Youtube.

      The fact that this guy was even able to do as much as he did is because of Youtube's broken, abuse-prone, the creator is always wrong, shoot-first-and-ask-questions-never copyright policies. So no, it's not good that he was stopped. It's bad that Youtube created him in the first place. (As for why no criminal case, it's because he didn't break any laws - the Youtube copyright system is a totally private system which is designed primarily to keep DMCA claims away from Google, and abuse of it doesn't violate any laws).

      • (Score: 3, Informative) by sjames on Thursday October 17 2019, @12:16AM (1 child)

        by sjames (2882) on Thursday October 17 2019, @12:16AM (#908074) Journal

        Since he demanded money in exchange for not slandering the victims, he actually is guilty of extortion.

        • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 17 2019, @12:47AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 17 2019, @12:47AM (#908089)

          And if he does it again after this, he will be guilty of violating a court order?

          "Defendant Christopher L. Brady and other persons who are in active concert or
          participation with him, are permanently enjoined from ..."

          Interesting question, can a court enjoin unnamed persons?

  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 16 2019, @10:19PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 16 2019, @10:19PM (#908027)

    What a piece of garbage.

    What, this guy or the general concept of a "youtube economy"?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 16 2019, @10:46PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 16 2019, @10:46PM (#908037)

      The world we are living in, maybe?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 17 2019, @02:48AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 17 2019, @02:48AM (#908137)

      I took it as "this guy".

      Oblig. HHGTTG:

      "I wish I had a daughter so I could forbid her to marry one ..."

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 16 2019, @10:27PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 16 2019, @10:27PM (#908031)

    to extort money from random folks.

    Business as usual. Nothing new here.

    No film at 11.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 16 2019, @11:01PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 16 2019, @11:01PM (#908045)

      No film at 11.

      That violates my copyright!
      It's deplatforming too!

    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by takyon on Thursday October 17 2019, @12:21AM

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Thursday October 17 2019, @12:21AM (#908077) Journal

      Take one DMCA abuser down, and you are only left with thousands more. Not counting companies that reject fair use.

      --
      [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
  • (Score: 2) by richtopia on Wednesday October 16 2019, @10:36PM

    by richtopia (3160) on Wednesday October 16 2019, @10:36PM (#908034) Homepage Journal

    The channel Legal Eagle did a take on this before the settlement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_eTxLRdPjM [youtube.com]

    The interesting point I took away from the lawsuit is that YouTube took the initiative to sue this guy. The content platform rarely takes notice to things like this and just funnel the DCMA requests to relevant people.

  • (Score: 2) by Snotnose on Wednesday October 16 2019, @10:36PM (4 children)

    by Snotnose (1623) on Wednesday October 16 2019, @10:36PM (#908035)

    The MAFIAA finds another shell to file their complaints, and nothing changes.

    Seriously, if this guy doesn't face fail time or massive fines, then who the hell cares?

    --
    Why shouldn't we judge a book by it's cover? It's got the author, title, and a summary of what the book's about.
    • (Score: 2) by Snotnose on Wednesday October 16 2019, @11:21PM (3 children)

      by Snotnose (1623) on Wednesday October 16 2019, @11:21PM (#908053)

      What the hell is wrong with my proofreading nowdays? Am I getting Alzheimers?

      --
      Why shouldn't we judge a book by it's cover? It's got the author, title, and a summary of what the book's about.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 16 2019, @11:45PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 16 2019, @11:45PM (#908062)

        You do not have Alzheimer's.

        What you have is "spell correct".

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 16 2019, @11:49PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 16 2019, @11:49PM (#908063)

        Proofreading?

        I just assumed it was along the lines of "I am altering the letters. Pray I don't alter them any further." [youtube.com]

        Just sayin'.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 17 2019, @10:49AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 17 2019, @10:49AM (#908239)

        Am I getting Alzheimers

        The good news is you get only one, not a plurality of them.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 17 2019, @05:34AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 17 2019, @05:34AM (#908184)

    Trollie trolley trollie trolley trollie trolley trollie troll.

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