Said incident had nothing to do with his Firewatch video.
Sean Vanaman of Campo Santo, the studio behind Firewatch, announced that they would be leveling a DMCA takedown against Felix “Pewdiepie” Kjellberg’s footage of their game. Which they did. The reason? Kjellberg dropped an N-bomb on his Battlegrounds stream yesterday.
https://twitter.com/vanaman/status/906983575337107456
Now, I could go the route many are going down and condemn him as some sort of alt-right neo nazi or whatever they’re saying about him. I’m not going to do that. Partially because I don’t think he is, and partially because the constant outrage has absolutely devalued those words. I’m pretty sure having that particular word screamed at you, along with a poorly constructed veil of profanity, by some screechy kid whose testicles haven’t descended is something of a rite of passage for most gamers. No, instead, I’m going to explain why this is probably going to cost Sean Vanaman/Campo Santo.
- Their DMCA claim of the video has nothing to do with the video itself. Which probably seems immaterial, but…
- They have a portion of their site dedicated to whether or not someone can stream/let’s play as well as monetize their footage of the game. It gives the general public people the go ahead to do so. While not explicitly legally binding, it’s still likely to be important.
Screencapped for posterity. Campo Santo - H3H3 actually won a legal battle which sets precedent for such claims to be fought in court, which leads us to…
- Felix Kjellberg has what we’d call “Fuck You Money“. As in, he can, if he so wants, come at this from an absolutely beautiful position of “Fuck You”.
I suppose my point is, the only likely way their DMCA takedown persists is if Felix lets it. Regardless of how you or Sean feel about his use of the slur. Functionally, he broke no laws, at the very least in the U.S. Well, other than to wade into the legal grey area that Let’s Plays currently inhabit. Campo Santo, on the other hand, has potentially created for themselves a legal nightmare, over nothing more than the moral high ground.
You can say that Pewdiepie shouldn’t use that word, and you’d be right; he shouldn’t, and I’ve avoided it myself over the course of this article. It is, however, only of import to public relations on his part. People vote with their attention in YouTube’s case, and I doubt this will impact him too hard on that plane. And I’m pretty sure at this point he courts controversy as a hobby now anyway.
As for what this actually means for both Pewdiepie and Campo Santo? It’s too early to tell. And the usual clowns on both sides have already come out in force. But one thing is certain; the consequences will be far reaching. Keeping an eye on this may be in your interest if you post video content online.
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