YouTube appears to have found a solution to Toei Animation's attempt at taking down one YouTuber's Dragon Ball and One Piece reviews.
In a new video, YouTuber Totally Not Mark, real name Mark Fitzpatrick, explains how YouTube was able to help him get his videos back online. According to Fitzpatrick, the streaming platform has now implemented a new policy where videos facing copyright claims may be taken down in certain countries, but will remain accessible to viewers in regions with stronger fair use protections. In December, Toei Animation, the studio behind several popular anime series like Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon and One Piece, attempted to remove over 150 of Fitzpatrick's reviews and drawing tutorial videos, claiming they violated Japanese copyright laws. The site's new policy will prevent the Totally Not Mark's videos from being viewed in Japan, but will allow them to remain online in other parts of the world.
"My videos are delivered in English and are clearly targeted to those in the western world," Fitzpatrick said. "So YouTube removed the videos in Japan, because, given their limited application of copyright exceptions, Toei might see this as infringing in Japan. However, YouTube felt the videos could reasonably qualify for a fair use exemption in most of the rest of the world, so the content will remain up everywhere else until, or unless, Toei can make an argument that it would not qualify for copyright exemption in other territories."
Previously, YouTube was widely perceived as generally siding with rights holders in most copyright disputes. In the wake of Toei's original takedown attempts in December, many other anime YouTubers, including popular channels such as Mother's Basement and The Anime Man, also expressed their frustration with Toei Animation and Japan's strict copyright enforcement laws, which provide very little in the way of fair use protections for reviews, criticism and other derivative works.
Fitzpatrick was thankful to the YouTube reps who helped him get his content back online. "I can't speak to the quality of everyone working at YouTube, but I can say that the people I've been in contact with over the last month... have been some of the kindest and most eager to help people I've ever spoken to... They have expressed a genuine desire to help me, have worked tirelessly to help me find a solution in this almost impossible situation, and perhaps most importantly, I think their heart is in the right place," the reviewer said.
Toei Animation has yet to publicly comment on the situation.
Source: YouTube
