Disclaimer: This article does not serve as legal advice, nor should it be treated as such. Please seek professional legal counsel if assistance is needed.
An AniTuber has announced that his entire channel will be taken down from YouTube in a matter of months due to a new strategy used by Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions — the company that produces and markets the Pokemon anime — to strike down his videos on the platform. This new legal play could make it possible for Japanese companies to not only have entire channels taken down but to fine creators on top of that.
Large Japanese companies across the sphere of anime and gaming have been striking down more and more content due to claims of "abusing copyright" in the last few years, with Nintendo being a prime example. After another AniTuber, Totally Not Mark, recently faced off in a battle with Toei Animation over his own videos and managed to win after a major public outcry of support, it looks like a new legal strategy may even allow Toei to challenge his videos once more. This is due to Japan not having the same kinds of laws surrounding fair use that exist in America and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, often known as ShoPro for short, deciding to sue a creator in a Japanese court, completely circumventing YouTube's copyright strike system.
New Zealand YouTuber Suede described what he called the ShoPro Gambit in a recent video. In it, he discussed how he received an email from YouTube's copyright department telling him that a court complaint had been filed about his content. This did not allow him to counterclaim has he had previously done successfully to keep his content and his channel alive on YouTube. The claims will become official strikes once the court case is resolved, resulting in his entire channel being deleted as over eighty-nine videos were claimed. With ShoPro asking for ¥80,200 in damages as well as legal fees — about $700 USD or $1000 NZD respectively — Suede could also be forced to pay the company while also losing his primary source of income.
What makes this particularly terrifying is that not only is it almost impossible to argue the case in an international court due to the difficulties in acquiring a suitable lawyer, but doing so would likely result in failure anyway according to the lawyer that Suede retained in Japan. While AniTuber Totally Not Mark was recently able to have all of his videos reinstated, this came with the catch that he could now geoblock his videos to not be viewed by users in Japan, a feature not offered to most content creators.
This allowed him to not have his videos viewed where they may be breaking stricter fair use laws, helping him avoid strikes through YouTube's system in the future. However, with this new strategy, companies like Nintendo, Toei, ShoPro, and more could take down entire sections of the anime and gaming YouTube community with little to no recourse outside public outrage simply because their videos were available in Japan at any time previously. Any YouTuber that has used Japanese IPs previously would also be in danger, which could include countless content creators.
Currently, Suede is calling for geoblocking to be available to all users on YouTube to try and help new content creators as well as older ones who may need to be able to rebuild new channels if necessary while keeping all of their content safe in the future. As YouTube's largest competitor DailyMotion already offers this, it shouldn't be too much to ask for the company to at least take this on. While it would be good to see YouTube take a stronger stand to help these creators despite the potential legal difficulties, this would at least be a sign of support for many of those whose careers may now be in jeopardy.
Although it's unfortunate that so many creators could be facing extreme difficulties, it is understandable that these Japanese companies are trying to protect their intellectual properties in a way that is considered culturally and legally reasonable to do so in their home country. Currently, Suede is seeking new subscribers for a new YouTube project to help keep his career afloat while raising awareness about this issue.
Source: Suede YouTube