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]

Every, I mean every company or independent author of a rpg book, who sends a promotional copy of their product to a you tuber, wants to see their product showcased. That's the point. Build up hype and hopefully get some positive vibes going. Why would any YouTuber assume WotC is different? The only stipulation was to wait till Aug. 1.Once again, WotC bungles and builds up ill will. They really really aren't learning...

Exactly.

 

[fluffybunbunkittens]

I thought that there were "fair use" laws that allowed people to show parts of copywritten material as long as full credit was given?

Youtube does not care about fair use. They care about spending the least possible effort to avoid any potential legal hassles, and will let channels bear the brunt of their strike-whenever-you-feel-like-it systems. What are any channels going to do, put their videos on another service?

 

[Corinnguard]

It was not until two days after we posted videos.

It probably took WoTC that long to look through all of the creator content videos on YouTube and realize that their instructions weren't as through as they originally thought they were.

Did WoTC do a vetting process when they were deciding on which content creators were going to promote the 2024 PHB on YouTube?

 

[Morrus]

I wonder if there's an element of various companies being involved--WotC itself, their PR firm (who I assume handled the deal -- it was 360PR who Beth reached out to about a review copy), and the legal firm (Reynold Law, looks like)?

 

[UngainlyTitan]

I wonder if there's an element of various companies being involved--WotC itself, their PR firm (who I assume handled the deal -- it was 360PR who Beth reached out to about a review copy), and the legal firm (Reynold Law, looks like)?

If there are that many figures in the pie on a weekend when the main D&D people are at Gencon then it is almost guaranteed.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

It was not until two days after we posted videos.

Interesting and good to know. Thanks for the response.

I’m sorry that you and other YouTubers are having to deal with WotC’s mistake.

 

[Bedrockgames]

With the exception of the YT channel showing the entire book, I thought that there were "fair use" laws that allowed people to show parts of copywritten material as long as full credit was given?

In any case, as soon as the book is released, someone is likely to .pdf the whole thing and make it freely available online. Those are the people WoTC should be concerned about.

The issue is YouTube copyright policies are pretty terrible. In this case it is at least clearly coming from WOTC, so the YouTuber knows it is a legitimate claim. Often it is just some troll and if you want to challenge it you have to risk giving said troll your personal information. I have had strikes for doing pure audio reviews of movies because people were copyright trolling. Three strikes and you risk losing your channel. Many other platforms operate in a similar way (got a hit on my blog for using the movie poster in a review)

 

[eldergoblin]

Imagine spitting in the face of the people who constantly provide free advertising for your game and are a large part of the reason for the ongoing success of that game. Especially on the heels of too many controversies and bad press to count.

It reminds me of the point they missed during the whole OGL debate:
just let people support your game.
Stop hampering the creators who are only trying to share what they are excited about.
The actions of this company are starting to feel like the TSR days.

 

[TrippyHippy]

WotC are becoming very weird and paranoid recently.

 

[The Soloist]

Why can I still see the DnDshorts' PHB24 flip through video, if there was a takedown order? Has it been rescinded?

My bad, I accessed it via my YT history views. I guess there is a redirect to his review video. (edit I only watched the hour-long video, not the review).