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.

 

[Mistwell]

That’s why we are miscommunicating. You keep changing your story.

I didn't change my story, you conveniently cut the stuff that didn't match your own. DNDShorts showed the entire thing. I then, repeatedly, said "the overwhelming majority" and "85%+", both of which were referencing the other guy.

But LET ME BE SUPER CLEAR: POSTING THE OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF A BOOK DIGITALLY TO THE PUBLIC WELL BEFORE IT'S EVEN RELEASED TO THE MASS PUBLIC, EVEN NOT IN ORDER, IS NOT OK FOR COPYRIGHT, IS NOT OK FOR YOUTUBE'S TERMS OF SERVICE AGREEMENT, AND IS NOT OK FOR WOTC'S REVIEWER STANDARDS.

Clear now? You grok my position here now, or you want to haggle about the remaining less than 15% difference we're discussing here some more?

 

[Mistwell]

I don't think of DnD Shorts as the devil, as some folks here do

I agree, I like him. But....

-- his video was clearly not intended to be some sort of "I'll hold this real still so you can screenshot every page" affair

I think it was. He pretty strongly implied it during the video. He kept saying you can get it for free, through the creative commons eventually, or "other ways earlier". And then would say "I am going to hold the camera here to make sure it all comes through" and things like that. And if he went slightly fast he'd say "I am holding it long enough that you should be able to pause and back up." I do think it was intended as a screenshot of every page. He didn't seem very cagey about it either.

 

[TiQuinn]

I didn't change my story, you conveniently cut the stuff that didn't match your own. DNDShorts showed the entire thing. I then, repeatedly, said "the overwhelming majority" and "85%+", both of which were referencing the other guy.

But LET ME BE SUPER CLEAR: POSTING THE OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF A BOOK DIGITALLY TO THE PUBLIC WELL BEFORE IT'S EVEN RELEASED TO THE MASS PUBLIC, EVEN NOT IN ORDER, IS NOT OK FOR COPYRIGHT, IS NOT OK FOR YOUTUBE'S TERMS OF SERVICE AGREEMENT, AND IS NOT OK FOR WOTC'S REVIEWER STANDARDS.

Clear now? You grok my position here now, or you want to haggle about the remaining less than 15% difference we're discussing here some more?

Yep. You win, Mistwell. Have at it.

 

[Corinnguard]

I don't think of DnD Shorts as the devil, as some folks here do -- his video was clearly not intended to be some sort of "I'll hold this real still so you can screenshot every page" affair -

I have to agree with you about DnD Shorts. Like Sly Flourish and Bob the World Builder, he created his review of the 2024 PHB for people like you and me. People who would enjoy some or all of what the 2024 PHB had to offer them.

I do think the wide net that WotC cast suggests that the hired gun PR firm they brought in for this has no real knowledge of the space or of the history a lot of these folks have with WotC, nor with what sort of videos would result.

If WoTC had done their own vetting of who they wanted to review the 2024 PHB, they would have been accused of bias because the fans would wonder if a content creator was picked or not picked based on their relationship with WoTC. Relying on a third party to do the vetting was a good idea. But it probably would have been a good idea to pick a third party who knows the content creators.

Again, this is why you retain your subject matter marketing experts that WotC let go in the past year. I cannot imagine cutting those folks actually helped them achieve whatever quarterly goal they were hoping to hit in order to get some approval from Big Daddy Shareholders

A good example of thinking things from a short-term perspective instead of a long-term perspective. Good bet that WoTC was seeing and thinking in the short term when they let go those marketing experts. And now they are kicking themselves in hindsight. One can hope they are doing that, literally.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

If WoTC had done their own vetting of who they wanted to review the 2024 PHB, they would have been accused of bias because the fans would wonder if a content creator was picked or not picked based on their relationship with WoTC.

Nah. Companies vet who they sent material out all the time, given that they don't have the ability to give preview copies and interviews to everyone. (Although poor Chris Perkins looked like he was stuck in that home office, talking on Zoom, for something like 12 hours on the day they did it.)

Only a handful of cranks worry about who's in the rotation to see early peeks at the new content for Destiny 2 or who gets to be in the press junket for Matrix 5: We Promise You'll Love this Sequel, Really.

It's a largely invisible process.

 

[Quickleaf]

Are we sure David Zaslav isn't secretly pulling the strings over at WotC?

Hey, I may only be worth 400 million, but my value in terms of networks I've killed? Priceless.

I was curious so I checked on Hasbro's top holders... (https://investor.hasbro.com/stock-information/ownership-profile)

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Boy, one of the supervillains of the modern economic landscape buying up an additional 800k shares feels ominous.

 

[Quickleaf]

Yeah, I was pretty surprised BlackRock was invested. They are really really really bad.

It's funny how circular this stuff gets, as BlackRock's holders include Vanguard, StateStreet, Bank of America, etc.

 

[TiQuinn]

If WoTC had done their own vetting of who they wanted to review the 2024 PHB, they would have been accused of bias because the fans would wonder if a content creator was picked or not picked based on their relationship with WoTC. Relying on a third party to do the vetting was a good idea. But it probably would have been a good idea to pick a third party who knows the content creators.

On the other hand, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. If they had learned their lesson and noted his behavior in the past, they could’ve easily avoided DnDShorts, and honestly…let him accuse them of bias. What else has the guy got once the oxygen starts leaving the room?

 

[Corinnguard]

On the other hand, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. If they had learned their lesson and noted his behavior in the past, they could’ve easily avoided DnDShorts, and honestly…let him accuse them of bias. What else has the guy got once the oxygen starts leaving the room?

But they didn't learn their lesson, did they?