On March 28, 2022, a client of ours received a fraudulent DMCA on YouTube and got two videos taken down. It was videos made from the computer game Grand Theft Auto V On-Line. YouTube is known to be cowards so anyone can report any video on YouTube at any time and it will automatically be taken down instantly!
This is because YouTube wants to avoid any unnecessary lawsuits – even though they enjoy protection under The Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act (OCILLA) which is shielding publishers from their own acts of copyright infringements. It is a ‘safe harbour’ for online publishers to protect them from users posting copyrighted material.
In other words, the primal law of the Wild West rules on YouTube. Shoot first and ask questions later.
On April 2, 2022, we contacted the person who reported the video on YouTube with these materials:
- Counter claim – Fraudulent DMCA letter.
- Screenshot of YouTube DMCA notification.
- Rockstar Eula.
- Rockstar policy on posting Rockstar Games Material.
- Our Invoice.
Two days later the first DMCA was withdrawn. The next took 3 weeks.
Filing a DMCA is subject to criminal prosecution if it is likely to have been executed in bad faith. If you are filing a DMCA and you do not have the copyright to the material reported, you are likely to be considered in bad faith. If you are the legal bearer of the copyright you are much less likely to be considered in bad faith.
IT IS A VERY BAD AND TOTALLY IRRESPONSIBLE POLICY FROM YOUTUBE TO MAKE IT POSSIBLE FOR ANYONE TO FILE A COPYRIGHT CLAIM!
The DMCA is a very complicated legal document and if you don’t know what you are doing you will most likely find yourself on the wrong end of a very expensive lawsuit!
We strongly advise checking with an attorney before submitting any DMCA.
Martin
I love you Martin! You saved my ass!!!