D&D YouTubers Hit with Copyright Strikes Over New D&D Player’s Handbook
As the video reviews roll out, so too do WotC’s copyright strike claims on certain videos. Though no one seems to know why.
As of August 1st, WotC’s review embargo on the new 5.5E Player’s Handbook has lifted. With that lifting came a number of videos ready to go, 8 o’clock, day one, as the saying goes. In the ensuing days, a number of creators, from rules optimizers to D&D opinion-havers to DM advice givers, have released scads of videos on the subject. Many have shown off the new book—and despite being given the book, seemingly for the purposes of showing it off, that seems to have brought down the wrath of WotC Legal.
Only there haven’t been any lawsuits. Yet. If there were, it would be a fine continuation of the D&D tradition. TSR, the game’s originators, were infamous for suing small creators. “They Sue Regularly” was a nickname the company earned. But again, no lawsuits so far.
WotC does seem to have wielded a far more powerful weapon, though, the Copyright strike.
D&D Creators Who Show Off the Book WotC Sent Them to Show Off Targeted for Showing Off the Book WotC Sent Them
Over the weekend, D&D creators have taken down, blurred out, or delisted videos showing off Player’s Handbook contents, despite, as they say, following WotC’s instructions. A move that seems to have sparked confusion across the community. Especially since YouTube’s copyright strike policy has a draconian, “three strike” policy that ends up with your channel terminated – a move that only hurts creators, as anyone who’s ever watched a full movie or other bootlegged performance uploaded to YouTube knows.
For instance, Nerd Immersion’s video showing off just the table of contents of the new Player’s Handbook, was taken down. As was DND Shorts’ 100% Walkthrough of the New Player’s Handbook. D&D lore junky, Jorphdan, was hit with a copyright strike over the weekend for a PHB flip-through video, and he posted about it on Twitter:
Despite fulfilling @Wizards_DnD requests for the flip through video I was issues a copyright strike on my channel. Thee strikes TERMINATES your channel. I don’t think going over the 2024 PHB is worth losing my channel I’ve been working on since 2017.
Along with the tweet, was attached a screenshot of the copyright removal request. And if you’re wondering about the “requests” WotC might have made, we don’t necessarily know for sure. But, another D&D creator, Mike Shea aka Sly Flourish, of the Lazy DM’s guides, blurred the pages on his flip through video after receiving an email from Hasbro:
Note, I blurred out pictures of the book after Hasbro sent me an email saying they worried people would take screenshots of the book and build their own. Yes, it’s complete bullshit, but we must all do our part to ensure four billion dollar companies maximize shareholder value.
All of which sours the air around the ongoing promo. Especially since it seems like there’s some sort of miscommunication going on. But. This story has a happy-ish ending.
Earlier this morning, Jorphdan was able to get the copyright strike issue cleared up, thanks, in part to the attention that having a larger platform can bring to bear.
But for now, it seems creators of D&D videos may be a little more wary showing off the book they were sent to show off in the first place.
