D&D (2024) D&D Player's Handbook Video Redactions & Takedowns

There's a lot of YouTube videos looking at the brand new Player's Handbook right now, and some of them include the YouTuber in question flipping through the new book on screen. A couple of those video creators have been asked by WotC to redact some of the content of their videos, with one finding that their video had been taken down entirely due to copyright claims from the company. It appears to be the folks who are flipping through the whole book on-screen who are running into this issue which, it seems, is based on piracy concerns.

Jorphdan posted on Twitter that "Despite fulfilling [WotC's] requests for the flip through video I was issues a copyright strike on my channel. Three 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. I'm pretty upset as none of this was said up front and when notified I did comply with their requirements. And I see other creators still have their videos up. Videos that are not unlike mine. Covering WotC is not worth losing my channel... Meanwhile please subscribe to my D&D free channel the Jocular Junction, where I'll most likely be making the majority of my TTRPG videos."

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Mike Shea, aka Sly Flourish, also posted a walkthrough of the Player's Handbook. While he didn't receive a copyright takedown action, after an email from WotC he has blurred out all the page images. "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 b******t, but we must all do our part to ensure four billion dollar companies maximize shareholder value."

Popular YouTuber DnD Shorts had a video entitled 100% Walkthrough of the New Player's Handbook in D&D. That video is no longer available. However, his full spoilers review is still online.

 

[SlyFlourish]

DND Shorts' video was taken down. He did a full flip through with the PDF he was given. Every page. It took a few hours for people to screenshot every spread and post that as a PDF.

It makes sense WotC is trying to protect their stuff. But it would make more sense to sell actual PDFs instead of stupidly going after your own fans. Refusing to sell PDFs only costs WotC money. It doesn't prevent any piracy. At best is slows it down by a few hours or days.

Yes Yes Yes!!

If any good can come from this, it’s putting more pressure on WOTC to sell PDFs of their books themselves.

If they had released the PDF of the 2024 PHB on the DM’s Guild on Thursday, how many fewer people would be mad about the book being sold at Gencon? How much work would people do to pirate a PDF of they can just pay $20 to buy it?

I did a segment on my talk show today about this and this was the message I wanted people to take away. There’s no reason WOTC can’t embrace PDFs of their products like every other publisher including our esteemed host @Morrus. They choose, instead, to alienate their biggest supporters and pay lawyers to harass independent creators.

Honestly, I really liked the 2024 PHB but now when I think about it or the videos I produced about it, they make me sick to my stomach.

 

[Nikosandros]

I'm not talking about the actual pirate.

I'm talking about my player Derek and Raymond who are cheap bastards and would 1000% used DNDshorts video to build their characters and never buy the PHB despite them making a whole lot more than me, Minigiant, the DM.

And unfortunately the number of people who would actually build their characters based off of YouTube videos information instead of buying the actual book is increasing by the day.

I obviously don't know about your players, but - in general - people who don't want to pay will just download a pirated copy. Once the book is released, other people will make them and distribute them.

 

[SlyFlourish]

Just stupid naughty word on WotC’s part and likely the left hand (legal) doesn’t know what the right hand (marketing) was doing. But going forward, if you’re Jorphdan or SlyFlourish or anyone else, are you willing to take the chance on an early release opportunity? Doubtful. Because even with permission, that doesn’t stop YouTube from issuing the strike, and they certainly don’t care if you’ve been given permission one way or the other. Bureaucratic nonsense head to toe.

Nope. I’m done. I wasted two days on this that I didn’t have.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Yes Yes Yes!!

If any good can come from this, it’s putting more pressure on WOTC to sell PDFs of their books themselves.

If they had released the PDF of the 2024 PHB on the DM’s Guild on Thursday, how many fewer people would be mad about the book being sold at Gencon? How much work would people do to pirate a PDF of they can just pay $20 to buy it?

I did a segment on my talk show today about this and this was the message I wanted people to take away. There’s no reason WOTC can’t embrace PDFs of their products like every other publisher including our esteemed host @Morrus. They choose, instead, to alienate their biggest supporters and pay lawyers to harass independent creators.

Honestly, I really liked the 2024 PHB but now when I think about it or the videos I produced about it, they make me sick to my stomach.

Heck, if they had a reasonably priced pdf I might even buy it out of curiosity, and I have no interest in playing that game.

 

[Hatmatter]

All the rules for Level Up are officially online, so it's not "every company" as you say. It's a choice WotC decided to make, and the consequences are theirs as well.

By the way, Micah, I do not see the words "every company" in my post. If you are going to use quotation marks with regard to something that I have written, you should quote me accurately.

 

[SlyFlourish]

This. I'm seeing a lot of moaning here because WotC is shutting down videos by people who explicity did what WotC told them not to do when they received their early review copies. They were given something for free on conditions and then defied those conditions. Why are people siding with them, other than knee-jerk "WotC bad"?

They did no such thing. The only guidance I received was to wait to post material from inside the book (which I took to mean actually being able to show the book) until August 1st. They gave no other guidance or restrictions until Saturday, days after we already posted our videos and, in my case, had shot and edited another. That video and all the work that went into it is dead.

So no, they did not put on conditions that had anything to do with this.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

One difference is that, in this case, they came to me hoping I’d make a nice video for them about their new book and I did. And then they make me deface it with new rules after the fact. I wish I had never gotten the book.

though I am guessing you would have been more cool with it had they told you ahead of time not to do a flip through

 

[fluffybunbunkittens]

Paizo also does this.

Yes... if you wonder, for instance, just how many feats there are in Pathfinder (either edition), well, it's all online for free.

That sort of stuff feels a lot more confident than this weird thing WotC has going on now (your free DnDBeyond feat is... Grappler).

 

[Micah Sweet]

By the way, Micah, I do not see the words "every company" in my post. If you are going to use quotation marks with regard to something that I have written, you should quote me accurately.

Fair enough. I apologize.

 

[ZMaNFaRLee]

DND Shorts' video was taken down. He did a full flip through with the PDF he was given. Every page. It took a few hours for people to screenshot every spread and post that as a PDF.

It makes sense WotC is trying to protect their stuff. But it would make more sense to sell actual PDFs instead of stupidly going after your own fans. Refusing to sell PDFs only costs WotC money. It doesn't prevent any piracy. At best is slows it down by a few hours or days.

Where is the pdf now?