H3H3 Productions has announced plans to sue Korean media company MBC for removing its latest episode of the H3 podcast this week. According to Ethan Klein, host and co-owner of H3H3 Productions, MBC used one of his clips without permission on a variety show featuring Korean comedians. The company then allegedly blocked his new podcast episode because he was watching them watch clips from the Korean variety show where they were watching his stolen clips.
Klein confirmed they were able to salvage the episode on Tuesday by removing the disputed clip from the episode, but said, “I’m still chasing these pieces of shit, I’m still on a fucking warpath. I’m going to review a framework to hold these media companies accountable.”
The new lawsuit comes even as H3H3 and the Kleins face their own lawsuits from Triller and Ryan Kavanaugh. Triller is suing them for using a clip of Jake Paul’s boxing match with Ben Askren on a podcast in the summer of 2021. Kavanaugh, who co-owns Triller, is suing them for defamation for their reaction to the Triller lawsuit, which Kavanaugh alleges that he attacked his reputation.
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“It’s legal harassment”: podcaster Ethan Klein sued again, this time for defamation
Klein’s new copyright lawsuit is being filed as YouTube comes under scrutiny over its handling of copyright claims. As reported by Philip DeFranco, last week anime reviewer Totally Not Mark had 150 claimed views from Toei Animation, forcing Mark to go through a months-long claiming process with every video if he wants to. that the years of work be returned to the Platform. This has drawn criticism of YouTube’s copyright claims process, which appears to favor claimants over creators in many cases.
Meanwhile, YouTube’s newest streamer, Ludwig, found himself repeatedly banned from his early YouTube streams due to YouTube’s content identification system not playing favorably with the streamer’s responsive-style content. .
Given the inconsistent, and sometimes devastating, consequences of false copyright claims on YouTube content, it’s no wonder H3 is frustrated and hopes to impose greater liability on companies that claim content from creators for dubious motives.
Ethan and Hila Klein are known for their principled stances on fair use issues, having won a landmark fair use case against Matt Hoss in 2017 that resulted in legal precedent recognizing fair use as a legitimate legal defence. From what Klein said on Tuesday, he hopes to take a similar principled stance against MBC with his latest lawsuit.
