YouTube Settles Lawsuit With Alleged DMCA Extortion Scammer for $25,000

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Jul 27, 2015
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YouTube has settled its DMCA abuse dispute with Nebraska-resident Christopher Brady. The man allegedly extorted several users of the streaming platform by requesting payments in exchange for retracting bogus copyright claims. Brady agreed to pay $25,000 and offered a public apology to those who were impacted by his actions.

YouTube’s copyright takedown policy poses one of the biggest threats to the streaming platform’s content creators. YouTubers who receive three copyright infringement strikes can easily lose their channel, which for some equates to their livelihood. This looming threat also provides an opportunity for scammers. As we reported a few months ago, YouTube’s copyright takedown process was being abused to extort YouTubers, including ‘ObbyRaidz’ and ‘Kenzo.’ Both repeatedly received ‘strikes’ against their channels. The scammer in question pretended that he was the legitimate owner of the videos uploaded by the users and requested money to retract the false claims. “We striked you. Our request is $150 PayPal, or $75 btc. You may send the money via goods/ services if you do not think we will cancel or hold up our end of the deal,” the scammer wrote. This abuse didn’t go unnoticed by YouTube, which tracked down the alleged offender and took action.

Last month the video streaming service sued Nebraska-resident Christopher Brady, accusing him of violating the DMCA by falsely claiming the content of other YouTubers as his own. According to YouTube, Brady repeatedly attempted to harass and extort money from content creators through his bogus copyright infringement claims. The company believes Brady went as far as using the address of YouTube user Cxlvxn, which is shared with a rightsholder for the purpose of filing a lawsuit, in an attempt to dispatch a large number of police officers to his home.
 

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