Ethan Klein has got tongues wagging once again after suing three streamers for copyright infringement. He’s suing them after they reacted to his “Content Nuke” video live on stream.
In a video talking about the suit, Klein claims that it was all a setup.
“I knew they would watch the entire video, add little to no commentary, react to it instantly, giving the no time to form an opinion. The trap was set,” he says.
He says the h3h3 snark subreddit provided a list of creators who were siphoning off his content. He calls that the “cardinal sin of copyright infringement.”
Specifically, Klein filed a suit against streamers Denims, Frogan, and Kaceytron. In the suit, he claims that these streamers included “substantial portions” of his Content Nuke video, which, in turn, violates fair use principles under U.S. law.
The suit also argues that these “low-effort” streams were a deliberate attempt to redirect traffic and revenue away from his original video.
Over on X, citizen journalist account Dexertonox claimed that Klein “created his Content Nuke video to bait Hasan into watching it so he could sue him for copyright.”
Dexertonox added, “Because Hasan never finished the video after spending 9 hours reacting to half, Ethan is suing three smaller female streamers instead.”
In response to this, several X users pointed out that Piker actually had a license to react to this video without getting sued. That suggests that the smaller streamers were Klein’s main target.
Viewers weigh in
However, viewers also noted that what Klein was doing could be considered “entrapment.” They argued that wouldn’t go down well in a court of law.
“So like… He knows this can probably be used to get his fake lawsuits dismissed right?” one user wrote.
“So let me get this right, he admits that this was a ‘honey pot’ so he can’t ‘entrap’ people to sue,” another added. “Additionally, he is selectively choosing who he sues? Yes this will go well in court since all of this is on tape. Dude is a psychopath.”
A third noted the irony of the situation, writing, “Wait, isn’t this the guy who made a big deal about fair use stuff after he got sued a few years ago? Now he’s suing other people for doing the same thing he did before? Lol, what a hypocrite.”
Previously, Klein captured attention with his 2016 FUPA lawsuit, which set new standards for fair use in the creator economy. However, in supporting this lawsuit, it seems like he is trying to roll back his own precedent.
H/T Express Tribune
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