I wanted to check something specific (how many languages a character creation grants), so went to
@SlyFlourish's YouTube to see if maybe, perhaps, he happened to have a page on screen that mentioned it.
Unfortunately, all the screens of his video were now blurred out. In his comments he wrote: "Hasbro's D&D Creator Team Relations emailed me with new rules saying we weren't able to show more than 75% of the page on a two-page spread because they're worried people will take screenshots and stitch them together into a book."
It is these "new rules" from Hasbro that were forcing the influencers to block the access to the 2024 Players Handbook. Earlier in this thread I was blaming some of the influencers for the gatekeeping. I apologize for my unfair assumption, and to DnD Shorts in particular who I mentioned by name.
Heh, now my assumption is, Hasbros historical aversion to digital documents is becoming self-defeating again.
WotC is the authorship of the 2024 Players Handbook, and it is their right to restrict access to their content to only "fair use". But obviously in context this is awkward, and people involved surprised by the lockdown.
Showing 75% of a two-page spread in screenshot seems clumsy but still useful.