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Lawsuit over YouTube DMCA Claim?

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Logan52

Junior Member
So my company and I have been getting harassed by this YouTube user over the last couple of months now. He's escalated things by threatening to sue, even hiring a legal advisor to contact me. But here's some background info before I get into that:

He took a video I made without our permission, and then uploaded parts of it to his own channel including my channel logo, my voice, my channel background, etc; and basically used them in a smear piece. He was profiting off of the video, and he used almost half of our original video (nearly 20 minutes).
He even had parts of the video where he admitted that he was just ranting, calling it "Rant mode on", and in other parts of the video he tried to quote half of Wikipedia sentences in order to mislead people into believing his opinion was based on fact, when it the sentence he quoted actually said the opposite.

I should also mention that according to YouTube, his video doesn't fall under Fair Use:

https://support.google.com/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=167335

1) He was making a profit off of this video via his AdSense, so it wasn't non-profit or for educational purposes.
2) He used many sources out of context, and they were all from Wikipedia, at that.
3) He used almost half of my entire video, so it's not like it was just tidbits here and there.
4) Since it was basically a smear piece, he definitely damaged our ability to profit from our original video.

Anywho, I submitted a DMCA claim and had his video removed, and they did. I believed it was a legitimate case because he wasn't innocently critiquing the video, but straight-out bashing it.
But then he uploaded about 6 more videos harassing me and my fans and has not let up since.
When I found out that it was hurting his Adsense account too, and since I had been in the same boat as him previously, I asked YouTube to remove the DMCA claim because I was just tired of the drama and it wasn't worth it.

They removed it, but now I'm still being harassed by this person. Apparently my show of good faith wasn't enough for him, because he actually contacted an online-based legal advisor, which apparently cost him $150 just to consult with.
But this guy didn't even lose that much money from having his AdSense removed, so he's being completely ridiculous at this point. He only lost about $25-$50 tops.

They sent me an email saying this:
"___________ has hired me to analyze the facts and circumstances surrounding your take down notice to YouTube. And whether your conduct violated 17 U.S.C. § 512(f) and what rights and remedies he has against you. In short, my client has a prima facie misrepresentation claim against you for violating 512(f).
However, my client prefers not to file a lawsuit, but rather, resolve this informally. Although your e-mail to You Tube withdrawing the notice was a nice first step, and the primary reason you are not currently being served with a federal lawsuit, it is only the first step..."

Then they said that this person would "settle their claims" against me if I comply to his demands, which consists of:
1) I make a video reading a RIDICULOUS apology letter that this person wrote. It's extremely unnecessary and out of line. The fact that a lawyer would allow it is ridiculous in the first place.
2) That I pay him $10,000 if I file a future copyright claim against him. This would basically give him a full green-light to assault us as much as he wants in the future.
3) That I don't post any videos or be involved with the website that I made for my own channel, for a month, and that I don't interact with them.

These are ridiculous claims, but I don't really know what to do about this.

Only a judge can determine whether or not the DMCA claim was false. According to YouTube's filing policy, I did nothing wrong, because I filed it on good faith that I thought it was a legitimate claim.
I still feel that it was a legitimate claim, but I didn't want to let the drama continue so I just removed it.

I live in the USA, and he lives in Canada. Let's hypothetically say he does sue, wouldn't that make things complicated? The "legal" representative he hired is based in the US, so does that change things?

I read that there's a small-claims requirement now of at least $10,000 in damages or something. And he definitely didn't have anything anywhere near that. If anything he's damaged us more and unfairly hurt our reputation and harassed us just because he was angry over a DMCA claim.

If I ignore this, do you think he would have a legitimate chance at suing me over this? Like I said, I still feel the claim was legitimate. But I don't have the money to go to court or hire a legal adviser of my own over something this stupid, but this YouTube channel (it's actually a company of mine) has been in existence for over 2 years, and it's basically my entire lifeblood right now. Other than that I'm just your average college student. This guy is 32 and is clearly a lunatic.

Should I ignore it completely? Should I respond and just say no?
Would any court even take his case seriously? Would I have to attend the court case if he does sue? How much could it cost?

This is just so ridiculous. I mean it was a freaking YouTube video and he didn't even lose more than $25 over it. But now I'm panicked. So what should I do?

Thanks so much to anybody who can give me peace-of-mind that goes beyond "get your own legal advisor".
 


TigerD

Senior Member
Thanks so much to anybody who can give me peace-of-mind that goes beyond "get your own legal advisor".
First relax.
Make some herbal tea. Play some soothing music like Wilson Phillips. Breathe deeply.
Then get your own legal advisor. -- we call them attorneys.

DC
 

Logan52

Junior Member
First relax.
Make some herbal tea. Play some soothing music like Wilson Phillips. Breathe deeply.
Then get your own legal advisor. -- we call them attorneys.

DC
Trust me I wish I could, but as I said, I cannot afford an attorney, especially not for something this stupid. This is YouTube we're talking about. What I want to know is whether this is even worth responding to or not, and if he can even have grounds to pursue this further.
 

TigerD

Senior Member
He told you he was going to sue.
He demanded $10,000.
This isn't a small claims court issue. This - if it goes to court - will be a federal court issue.

You seriously should bring everything you have: all the videos and letters to an attorney for review.

DC

PS: Legal expenses is something you need to plan for in business.
 

Logan52

Junior Member
He told you he was going to sue.
He demanded $10,000.
This isn't a small claims court issue. This - if it goes to court - will be a federal court issue.

You seriously should bring everything you have: all the videos and letters to an attorney for review.

DC

PS: Legal expenses is something you need to plan for in business.
I think you're misunderstanding. He never said he was going to sue. In fact if you read the quote, it says that he doesn't want to, and would like to settle it out of court. However because he already blew $150 on an adviser, I wouldn't be surprised if he wants to pursue it further if I decline his insane demands.
Further, he never demanded $10,000. Part of his settling "out of court" agreement would be that I'd agree to give him $10,000 IF we were to file another claim in the future against him. He never said anything about demanding $10,000 now.

I'm willing to bet it's because he would then have the money to pursue the lawsuit if we were to do it again. He seems like he's just trying to cover himself in the future and is hiding behind a legal attorney to scare me into submission.
 

OHRoadwarrior

Senior Member
As he has no registered rights in the US and you have no registered rights in Canada, you both seem to be peeing in the wind.
 

quincy

Senior Member
As he has no registered rights in the US and you have no registered rights in Canada, you both seem to be peeing in the wind.
Well, we don't really know whether there are registered rights. And we have no idea what these videos are all about.

Because we have no idea what these videos are about or why they are being displayed online, it is impossible to say if anyone has any legitimate legal action against anyone else for any reason at all.

For those reasons, Logan52, you will need to have all facts personally reviewed by an attorney in your area, to determine better what if anything you need to do in response to the threats you are receiving. We cannot do personal reviews on this forum.

No one here can tell you if you should respond to threats, send off money to settle the matter, or ignore everything and move on. We do not have nearly enough facts.

Could you please tell us where in the U.S. you live? Where in Canada does your harasser live? The answers to these questions could at least help us guide you to places or people who can help you.
 

TigerD

Senior Member
So my company and I ....He took a video I made without our permission, and then uploaded parts of it to his own channel including my channel logo, my voice, my channel background, etc; and basically used them in a smear piece. ....Anywho, I submitted a DMCA claim and had his video removed, and they did. ....I asked YouTube to remove the DMCA claim because I was just tired of the drama and it wasn't worth it. ....But this guy didn't even lose that much money from having his AdSense removed, so he's being completely ridiculous at this point. He only lost about $25-$50 tops.

Then they said that this person would "settle their claims" against me if I comply to his demands, which consists of:
1) I make a video reading a RIDICULOUS apology letter that this person wrote. It's extremely unnecessary and out of line. The fact that a lawyer would allow it is ridiculous in the first place.
2) That I pay him $10,000 if I file a future copyright claim against him. This would basically give him a full green-light to assault us as much as he wants in the future.
3) That I don't post any videos or be involved with the website that I made for my own channel, for a month, and that I don't interact with them.
Ditto what quincy wrote. --And he really is the forum's resident expert.

I'll just renew my recommendation that you seek an attorney. At very least, you need to know how to protect your creative works. Right now it doesn't seem like you do.

DC
 

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