YouTubers like Trisha Paytas and the Ace Family have come under fire for using a third-party company, SuperBam, to wrongly claim copyright against drama channels.
While copyright striking wars between YouTubers and drama channels are long-standing, drama channels have recently reported an increase in unreasonable claims made by SuperBam on behalf of creators.
The outrage continues as drama channels claim that after being copyright struck, all the revenue made from their video is turned over to the YouTuber who made the claim, with SuperBam taking a cut.
In recent years, drama channels have emerged as content creators in their own right with consistent uploads and high-quality videos. Channel producers will often use clips taken from the videos of the YouTubers they cover to provide context or evidence.
Under ‘Fair Use’ laws, copyrighted material can be used without the original creator’s permission in circumstances such as providing critique. However, according to YouTube, Fair Use is determined on a case-by-case basis, and different countries have different rules about when it’s okay to use copyrighted material.
According to drama channel Spill Sesh, once a video has been copyright struck, the process of disputing the decision nearly always sides with the original creator.
“YouTube doesn’t really go and look at the videos that are being copyright claimed and watch them. A real human is not watching them and evaluating whether the person copyright claiming it is in the right,” she said.
YouTuber Ethan Klein also replied to a tweet by Spill Sesh suggesting that SuperBam follows the directions of the YouTubers that use their service.
Fans are calling out Trisha Paytas in particular, who previously made a video where she claimed to have “no association” with SuperBam. With that video now taken down, and an increase in copyright strikes made on her behalf by SuperBam, fans are calling Trisha a “pathological liar” and a “queen of hypocrisy”.
Spill Sesh revealed she was also struck by SuperBam on behalf of the Ace Family for a clip she used in a recent video. The commentary channel argued that this was “clearly within Fair Use” as she used the clip without sound and added a voiceover, and her video was clearly not a replica of the Ace Family’s video.
Neither Trisha nor the Ace Family have responded to the backlash for their use of SuperBam at the time of publication.