Update: TeamFourStar’s channel has now been reinstated. The channel’s creators posted a message on Twitter regarding the reinstatement, writing: “This is you, folks. This is all because of you. Thank you.”
Original story: YouTube is continuing in its questionable bid to have its content creators embark upon some form of YouTuber uprising, with Internet personality Doug Walker’s #WTFU campaign, which asked “Where’s the Fair Use?” in the wake of an innumerable amount of breaches of the fair use act by the video sharing site, now being followed up with the news that YouTube has terminated the account of popular channel TeamFourStar.
TeamFourStar garnered over 400 million views and 2 million subscribers on YouTube, with them mostly being known for their Dragonball Z Abridged series in which they humorously dubbed episodes of the anime series with their dialogue. Funimation, the company that holds the license to the show for North America, stated that they were fans of the series, but that hasn’t prevented YouTube from tearing the channel down.
Also See: Prominent YouTubers Ask “Where’s the Fair Use?” in Backlash Against Site
Here’s the page you’re greeted with if you try to access the channel at the time of this writing:
Citing “multiple third-party claims of copyright infringement” as the reasoning behind the channel being pulled from the site, TeamFourStar claimed that they received no communication from YouTube regarding the decision, with a large part of their income essentially evaporating into thin air without so much as a warning. YouTube’s astonishing lack of communication with its creators was a main point of contention for those who backed the #WTFU campaign, and this unfortunate development with TeamFourStar couldn’t have come at a more apt time.
With Doug Walker, more commonly known as Nostalgia Critic on the Internet, shining a light on the problems YouTube channels face when dealing with false copyright claims dished out to them by YouTube, pointing out that even when content is covered by the Fair Use Act, YouTube will always side on behalf of those making the claims rather than the video makers, the site’s shutting down of TeamFourStar’s channel points to just how little respect the company appears to have for those who make them their money.
Just heard about YouTube taking down @teamfourstar‘s channel without any warning. This is getting beyond a fucking joke.
— Jim Sterling (@JimSterling) February 24, 2016
It’s a dark day in the world of parody, my friends. A sad, dark day.
— Christopher Sabat (@Chris24_Sabat) February 24, 2016
WTF. @YouTube completely removed @teamfourstar‘s channel. #MakeYouTubeGradeAgain
— Jared Knabenbauer (@ProJared) February 24, 2016
YouTube took down @teamfourstar—2mil subs—without communication?
NO account deserves shitty treatment, but when you’ve sent them a PLAQUE…
— Graham Stark (@Graham_LRR) February 24, 2016
TeamFourStar are now receiving plenty of support online from other YouTubers, and if nothing else it has added more fuel to a fire that YouTubers hope will continue burning until YouTube is forced to act.
All of TeamFourStar’s videos are still available to view on their website, with them reportedly working on getting their channel reinstated. But even if they manage to do so, it still doesn’t detract from the fact that YouTube’s lack of transparency and communication with its creators is still thoroughly unacceptable, and if the site wants to continue to thrive then it’s surely going to have to start treating its content creators with the same respect that it now solely reserves for the third-party companies that dish out these false copyright claims.
We have reached out to TeamFourStar for comment.
