YouTube Accepts Campo Santo’s Copyright Claim Against PewDiePie

What implications will this have against PewDiePie and YouTubers?

PewDiePie, aka. Felix Kjellberg, recently found himself in some hot water during a live stream of the popular game PlayerUnknowns Battleground. We even reported on it at the time. During the stream, Felix was heard to use a racist term. This matter placed further pressure on YouTube. With an exciting copyright claim in place from Firewatch developer Campo Santo this matter didn’t help with them clearly not wishing to be associated with such language.

In what could prove to be a very significant move, YouTube has decided to uphold the claim and has since removed the video completely.

PewDiePie has been courting controversy for which sometime now. It was quite a shock when YouTube and Disney decided to remove their endorsement of him following a previous scandal.

In the steam of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, which occurred a little under a week ago, PewDiePie was seemingly quick to realise his error and posted an apology shortly afterwards reports Polygon.

If you missed the initial controversy, you can read about it here.

Not all, however, have accepted this. Many feel that the use of such language, particularly for a prominent and iconic YouTube personality.

In regards to the copyright action from Firewatch, despite Felix attempting later to privatising the video, YouTube has taken the step to remove it completely. This does have serious implications to one of the most famous YouTubers.

Ok, So PewDiePie made a mistake, he said sorry, what’s the problem?

I tend to agree. I believe, particularly in the heat of a live stream, people do say and do stupid things. Hell, PewDiePie has made a very lucrative living saying dumb things. The problem isn’t so much the comments, it’s the removal.

YouTube has a very strict policy regarding copyright/DCMA claims. Put simply, it’s 3 strikes and you’re out rule. This represents Felix’s first strike. If he receives 2 more, there are some very serious consequences. Such as what you ask? Well, the removal of all his videos for a start. The deletion of his account. The hammer blow, however, would be his exclusion to ever be able to open another account with them.

YouTube would never do that I hear you say. Why not? Sure, he has a lot of subscribers, but he is starting to cultivate a rather toxic reputation. As his once teen fan base grows up and moves on, there aren’t that many coming in to fill the void either. I’m certainly not saying that PewDiePie as a channel is dead, but it has certainly peaked and peaked quite a long time ago.

PewDiePie will doubtlessly be on his best behavior for the next few weeks because if he isn’t, he might find that YouTube’s patience could soon run out.