{"id":6917,"date":"2026-09-11T23:26:38","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T23:26:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=6917"},"modified":"2026-09-11T23:26:38","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T23:26:38","slug":"nicholaslighttv-remove-your-media-youtube-crunchyroll-viz-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=6917","title":{"rendered":"Anime reaction YouTubers are at war with copyright enforcers"},"content":{"rendered":"


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On September 6th, YouTuber Nicholas Light posted a video to one of his channels that made it seem like all of his content was about to be removed from the platform. In the video \u2014 ominously titled \u201cMy Channel will be Deleted Today<\/a>\u201d \u2014 Light alleges that he was on the receiving end of some of the \u201cthousands upon thousands of false copyright strikes\u201d recently initiated by a company called Remove Your Media. Light spends much of the 13-minute video accusing Remove Your Media CEO Eric Green of being a troll who systematically targets creators whose content mentions or features clips of popular anime series like Bleach <\/em>and One Piece.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It\u2019s not clear how many of Light\u2019s 1.3 million subscribers made it to the end of the video where he admits that YouTube already removed the copyright strikes against his account and informed him that his channel would not be deleted. But in a follow-up video titled \u201cMy Channel will NOT be deleted<\/a>\u201d posted on September 8th, Light thanked himself and \u201cevery single person that contributed\u201d to the ongoing conversation about Remove Your Media unfairly threatening creators\u2019 livelihoods.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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When I recently spoke with Light via email, he told me that over 60 of his videos had been temporarily taken down after he was hit with over a dozen copyright strikes stemming from Remove Your Media\u2019s Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown requests. Light said that \u201chaving a video taken down or struck is almost second nature\u201d for people running reaction channels. But he insisted that the way Remove Your Media has been going after creators is abusive and unrelated to any legitimate interest in protecting copyrighted IP.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI think [Remove Your Media is] trying to get the attention of these companies, to hopefully get hired by them,\u201d Light said. \u201cBut because they\u2019re so sloppy, they\u2019re damaging themselves. With all the major channels covering this, they\u2019re doomed.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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While it\u2019s easy to get the sense that Light might have been playing up some of this drama for viewers\u2019 attention, it is clear that a number of other content creators have similarly been hit with an inordinate amount of copyright strikes. Many of these creators specialize in anime and gaming reaction videos that feature blurred-out or otherwise altered pieces of copyrighted footage. The creators superimpose the altered copyrighted footage (like anime opening sequences<\/a> or full episodes<\/a>) onto videos of themselves reacting to and\/or commenting on it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Though these types of videos are kind of like an inverse Mystery Science Theater 3000 <\/em>where the on-camera creators are meant to be the focus, viewers can also use them as a (less-than-ideal) way to watch copyrighted material without having to pay for it. The creators insist that their content is fundamentally transformative and protected by fair use, but that has not kept YouTube from sending them warnings about their accounts potentially being erased.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Remove Your Media feels it does not need to extensively review all of a creator\u2019s videos to file DMCA takedowns in good faith <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Remove Your Media legal representative Evan F. Stone told me that Viz Media and Crunchyroll are two of the company\u2019s \u201cbiggest anime clients.\u201d Stone explained that Remove Your Media \u201creports thousands of allegedly infringing links every day\u201d \u2014 some of which are \u201cforwarded by the copyright owners themselves,\u201d while others are discovered through online searches. Stone also noted that some clients are \u201cvery lenient\u201d with certain types of content, despite their weak fair use defense. But he was adamant that the content being produced by YouTubers Remove Your Media has gone after is not transformative enough to fall under fair use.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cCommentary, in this context, does not make the use transformative: these videos show the copyrighted work in its entirety, and a great deal of this content sits behind a paywall,\u201d Stone said. \u201cAdd the fact that some viewers are watching these versions rather than the licensed versions, and the effect on the marketplace is real.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Stone also pointed out that some reaction video creators use their free YouTube channels as a way to encourage viewers to subscribe to their paid Patreon pages. In Remove Your Media\u2019s view, when a reaction creator\u2019s business model \u201cis recording someone watching full episodes and selling those recordings, episode included, behind a Patreon paywall,\u201d the company does not need to extensively review every single one of their uploads to file DMCA takedowns in good faith.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cFor any particular video a creator believes was noticed in error, the counter-notice exists for exactly that situation, and it works,\u201d Stone said. \u201cWhat [Remove Your Media] is seeing instead is channels countering every single video, full episode uploads included, swearing under penalty of perjury that each one was removed by mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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From Light\u2019s perspective, channels like his are producing a unique kind of entertainment that also benefits copyright holders. \u201cIt\u2019s free promotion for them at the end of the day,\u201d he explains. Reaction videos of all genres have been popular on the internet for years, and it\u2019s clear from view counts on YouTube that anime fans in particular are watching this kind of content.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Light feels that because \u201cthe [anime industry] doesn\u2019t do the best job promoting their works outside of Japan,\u201d he and his peers have been picking up the advertising slack with their videos. And while Remove Your Media says that it works on behalf of certain anime distribution platforms including Crunchyroll and Viz Media, Light believes that \u201cno company in the industry would want to align with a company so sloppy.\u201d Crunchyroll did not respond to The Verge<\/em>\u2019s questions about whether it has hired Remove Your Media to enforce copyright and Viz Media would not comment on record.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Similar to Light, Ron and Michelle Jackson \u2014 the couple behind the Rice & Ginger YouTube channel \u2014 uploaded a video<\/a> last week announcing that their account might be deleted within a few days after being flagged hundreds of times for copyright violations. In addition to emphasizing that their video was not meant to be clickbait-y, the Jacksons encouraged viewers to subscribe to their Patreon page, and they said that the larger wave of creator takedowns is being caused by \u201cone individual making hell for basically all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Jacksons did not respond to The Verge<\/em>\u2019s ask for comment about whether that unnamed individual might be Eric Green or Remove Your Media and how they were able to avoid having their channel deleted on the date (September 6th) listed in their first video addressing the situation. On September 9th, the YouTubers said<\/a> that their account was now scheduled to be deleted the following day, and they described YouTube\u2019s approach to enforcing copyright as a broken system that allows for AI-powered mass reporting. By September 10th, the Rice & Ginger YouTube channel was still online, and the Jacksons were back with a new video thanking Light for speaking out on their behalf and \u201csaving\u201d their channel.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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When I reached out to YouTube asking how it handles DMCA takedown disputes between reaction video creators and IP rightsholders, policy communications manager Jack Malon said that the company \u201cdoes not decide who owns the rights to content.\u201d Rather than mediating the legality of who owns the copyrighted content and whether a creator\u2019s videos fall under fair use, YouTube brings the two parties together and leaves it to them to work the matter out between themselves.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWhen we receive valid legal requests, we remove the content to comply with copyright law,\u201d Malon said. \u201cIf uploaders believe they have the right to use the material, including for exceptions like fair use, they can file a counter notification.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Malon added that YouTube only removes creators\u2019 videos \u201cwhen a rightsholder submits a valid and legal takedown request\u201d because the company has to comply with copyright law. According to YouTube<\/a>, creators can solve copyright strikes by submitting counter notifications \u2014 a process that involves providing evidence of ownership or permission to use all elements featured in the removed content. In response to my questions about how Remove Your Media selected the creators that were affected by the takedowns, he said that the company prioritized going after YouTube channels that generate \u201cfeeder traffic for paywalled copies of episodes nobody licensed to them.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cFor any particular video a creator believes was noticed in error, the counter-notice exists for exactly that situation, and it works,\u201d Stone said. \u201cWhat [Remove Your Media] is seeing instead is channels countering every single video, full episode uploads included, swearing under penalty of perjury that each one was removed by mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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This drama highlights how certain dynamics of the creator economy may be changing<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Malon told me that, after a creator submits counter notifications, their videos can be restored and the strikes on their accounts can be resolved \u201cif the rightsholder does not respond with proof of legal action to restrain the allegedly infringing content.\u201d But it\u2019s not entirely clear how YouTube confirms the validity of a claimant\u2019s purported ownership of removed content.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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On September 10th, Light returned to his channel with another video<\/a> lambasting both Remove Your Media and YouTube for the way the companies have gone about initiating and handling DMCA disputes. Light said that the Jacksons\u2019 videos will be restored within 10 business days as a result of \u201call of the noise that [we] made together,\u201d and he addressed people who have speculated that he might be leaning into this drama for financial gain.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s funny to me I start having problems with my AdSense the 10 days I choose to go after YouTube,\u201d Light said, explaining that his videos have been demonetized during the DMCA fight. \u201cReally makes you think. So maybe we should shut the fuck up when we say stupid shit like \u2018he\u2019s banking on the situation. He\u2019s only doing this for money.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Though Light and others who have spoken out about the way YouTube handles copyright issues might not be trying to capitalize on being deplatformed, this drama has highlighted how certain dynamics of the content creator economy may be changing. Anime reaction videos probably aren\u2019t going away anytime soon, but it does seem like studios and distributors are becoming more aggressive about monitoring how their IP is being repurposed online. And while creators of all kinds still rely on fair use to produce the content that pays their bills, they may need to tread much more carefully if they want to avoid getting caught up in an aggressive purge.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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