Well, it's finally happened.
hey folks, it's been a crazy weekend, and you're about to read a super long, kind of intense post. I would like to start the following update by letting you know that in spite of what has happened over the past couple of days, I am going to continue to work on the mermaid game and all my other game projects. And while the situation I find myself in is causing a bit of trouble, I don't want anyone reading this to be worried for me or feel they need do anything, I'm pretty sure I can resolve it soon. I'm simply writing because it may affect the future of my youtube channel, I'm currently figuring a few things out, and I don't want it to catch anyone off guard.
So whenever any content creator reaches a certain level of subscribers or popularity, strangers on the internet will begin to harass them, and the intensity is also higher if the content creator is a woman or another minority identity. I am part of a few circles for content creators, and based on what everyone I have talked to says, this is sadly not just a possibility but an absolute certainty. When I started doing youtube in earnest, I accepted that this would happen and took what I thought would be appropriate safeguards. I'm very private about my personal details and if anyone says anything even vaguely negative on my socials, they get blocked. So far that's worked super well for me!
but recently I learned what real harassment looks like.
You'll recall that a few days ago, one of my reels on instagram went semi-viral. I got a lot of new followers, and this included a cohort of strangers who, for reasons I genuinely can't fathom, really want me to lose some sleep. they commented on several of my instagram posts, my youtube videos, they reached out to people who supported me publicly or said anything nice about me in comment sections, they sent me private dms, and said some very vitriolic things about me, one of which was that I was an art thief (we'll get to that in a moment).
At first, I treated this like any other troll-y or negative social interaction online: blocked and moved on. But what makes this different was that they keep coming back. There are at least three people involved in this, that I can tell. They are using multiple accounts, and again, keep trying to find new avenues to either comment in public place about my work or message me directly. You can tell its the same group because they will always mention that I "stole pixel art", and always ask everyone to visit their own youtube channel as "proof" (I'm not gonna name the channel here because in the back of my mind I wonder if all this isn't some kind of very poor publicity stunt, and I'm certainly not going to give them free clicks or views) Anyway, after I blocked most of these avenues off, instead of going away for good, they chose to escalate.
If you make any kind of work on youtube, especially if you are a woman please read the following. It's information I did not know until this happened that I really wish someone had told me.
Youtube uses an automatic copyright content checking system that analyses every video uploaded for potential copyright infringement. Content creators and copyright holders (generally) work well with this system, because In most cases, if it catches anything you can resolve it with a quick reupload or cut even before you hit publish--and sometimes the copyright owners will let you use their content as long as the video is demonetized. I have only been warned by the system once, because my videos and content are completely original or transformative, and also I don't make money off of youtube anyway, so losing monetization is not a problem for me.
But did you know that anyone can file an outsider copyright claim against your video, even without using this system? Even without having a youtube account? You just fill out a form with your name, your email, and the video you claim is infringing, and in most cases youtube will create a copyright strike. and here's where it gets nasty.
a copyright strike on youtube is pretty serious. get three of them and your account is deactivated or banned. When someone files an outsider's claim, it doesn't go through the normal automatic system or really get checked by anyone, it gets treated immediately as a potential strike. The creator has 7 days to take down that video or accept the strike, after which they are allowed to file a counter notice to restore the video. This is not an appeal through Youtube, a counter notice is a legal action, basically notifying the claimant "you need to prove in court that your copyrights were violated or youtube will undo all of this" and in most cases, harassers who are abusing the copyright system will back off (with no repercussions, I might add). HOWEVER...
In order to file a counter notice, you must either hire a lawyer to file it for you, or you must file it yourself, and you are required to give the claimants your legal name and residential address so they can take you to court if they want to.
I REPEAT: IN ORDER TO FILE A COUNTER NOTICE, YOU HAVE TO GIVE YOUR HARASSERS YOUR FULL LEGAL NAME AND RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS.
Kind of bone-chilling, isn't it? Knowing how ridiculously easy it is to abuse the system to do this to someone? I'm embarrassed to say I didn't know about any of it. But you'd better believe the next time I meet someone who is thinking about making youtube part of their career, I'm gonna tell them!
Not that it really matters, but it was mildly amusing finding out what this group of people chose to copyright strike: Lani's design. A design you'll recall was determined by a poll. And the video they filed a copyright strike on clearly shows the poll results and contains footage of me drawing her by hand. Altogether a hilariously bad attempt, and if a single human being had looked at this case it would have been thrown out, but luckily for them youtube is happy to carry out their threats in earnest.
Anyway, if I don't want these fraudulent copyright strikes to deactivate my youtube account and undo years of work and also kill the public funnel to my primary income stream, The options for me right now are: file a counter notice alone and dox myself, or forego a couple of dental surgeries for a while to hire a lawyer to file. I would happily lose a few teeth to get these people out of my life, so I'm picking the latter option!
That is the update, everyone. It is a bit blunt, but I promise there is no need for concern, and this issue is already on its way to being resolved, but I'll admit I am angry and maybe venting a little. This experience made me confront a really dark part of this platform I regularly use, and realize how vulnerable you are by putting yourself in the public eye. If you were one of the people who interacted with or were contacted by this group, by the way, I'm very sorry.
Lots of gratitude and warmth to everyone who is here and read all the way to the end. I will write more soon about how the game is coming along!
Comments (38)
Damn, I'm so sorry this has happened. And yes very bone chilling, makes me sad. I hope that this works out and that you will be safe.
And warmth to you, Terry! I am SO sorry you are dealing with this. Honestly, people can be really scary, and more than a few take things WAY TOO FAR because they are either hurting or very unwell. I hope that things get resolved without you having to suffer tooth pain, and our fond thoughts are with you! 💖
Oh, Hells... Good luck to you, and stay safe!
Sorry this is happening! <3 much love
Imagine having the time, energy and smarts for what is effectively finding workarounds for problems and to use that resourcefulness to set a stranger's day on fire for shit and giggles. We'll be here waiting for you in any case, so (most respectfully) go kick some butts 🫶
I’m so sorry this is happening! I always see larger content creators discussing copyright strikes, but it never seemed like the sort of targeted harassment that would result in having to share your personal information with someone on the internet instead of just… being able to send an appeal to a real human being that could review it for 15 seconds? Thanks for bringing light to this, and I’m so sorry it’s happening to you. I hope your lawyer can help girlboss the way out of this, and maybe even have reparations for slander and harassment (as unlikely as that just may be)
I'm so sorry Terry! That's really awful, and I wish the platform did more to support their creators, rather than... just structurally facilitating the harassment of women and marginalized folks. I really admire and appreciate your work, and I hope you're able to take care during this stressful time! (No pressure whatsoever, but maybe you could introduce a tooth tier for patrons who want to help you get back on track RE: dental surgeries). 🦷 ❤️
I'm so sorry this happened to you. And just when you're starting to get the recognition you deserve. I love Lani's design, and it's just disheartening that someone is purposefully trying to hurt your channel bc of it. I hope that the issue gets resolved soon, and that hopefully something can help with your dental surgeries. Your supporters are here to cheer you on! ✨
I feel like a number of people didn’t think this process through. That sucks, hopefully you can get it resolved soon with minimal hassle.
That super sucks, Terry. I'm so sorry.
this is awful!! no amount of preparation is enough for the lengths these people are willing to go, i’m so sorry you’re dealing with this right now. stay safe, terry!! 💛 i hope you’re able to get it all resolved soon
I’m really sorry to hear this Terry, your videos have inspired me so much and I’m horrified that the system is not supportive of you at all. I would be happy to support you more through a gofundme or different subscription tier
That’s so messed up. Sorry you have to deal with this.
The copyright system is genuinely bullshit, and its infuriating how YouTube doesn't do anything to protect its creators. Wishing you all the best and wishing your harassers all the worst! 💕🧜♀️
I'm sorry this is happening to you Terry. It's also *so frustrating* that YouTube hasn't done anything about this type of harassment when it's been going on for *decades*
I didn't think YouTube's copyright system could get any worse, but this is seriously fucked up. I had also never heard of this, you definitely should NOT feel embarrassed. So sorry that this has happened. Also edit: if you gave the option for people to do one-off donations on Kofi while this situation is ongoing, I'm sure people would be happy to support! You deserve to keep BOTH your teeth and your YouTube channel.
you don’t deserve any of this, Terry. I hope you can find peace after all this mess is over. Love you and support you, girl 🩷💖
I'd love to help by donating what I can for your dental surgeries Terry.
This is terrible 😭 I truly wish the internet had better ways of protecting creators. Being forced to give some weirdos your personal information is crazy talk 😩 and thank you so much for this warning. I knew copyright strikes were unfair at times but I never knew this level of detail. 😞 I hope everything resolves soon and I’m so sorry you’re having to go through this. Lani is such a cute design and it’s truly wild anyone would try to claim it was “stolen” when we all literally voted on elements on her 🤦🏾♀️
Terry! Sorry you have to deal with that. It amazes me how fast people, who have barely created anything, are to claim copyrights on someone’s else work. Like no one else can draw cute cartoonish mermaids? They must be projecting.
I'm usually just a lurker on the web but this kinda shit will never not piss me off. I'm sorry that this situation feels systemically inevitable. You've made such a meaningful impact in sharing hope and positivity through your games and philosophy on youtube. I got laughed out of game design about a decade ago and you've genuinely helped me have hope again, you're a huge inspiration for me. Hope all goes well with this, you have the strength and passion to make a change. Absolutely vile tho that the system supports doxxing like that
Getting a lawyer definitely sounds like the right choice. I was just singing your praises to another game maker yesterday, the work you make is important!! Having to protect yourself and your work is a whole added layer on top of public game making that I’ve never thought about. Thanks for sharing your struggles! ❤️ Your community has your back!
Absolutely infuriating, I'm so sorry.
Thank you for keeping us updated! This is such an absolutely horrible thing that no one should ever have to go through, but I appreciate you letting us know how easily abused the system is. Even after years of supposedly knowing how youtube works, I had no idea fighting a copyright claim involved either hiring a lawyer or doxxing yourself. It's terrible that this kind of awfulness is a guarantee for women and minority creators on the internet. I hope your lawyer kicks ass and that these harassers piss off.
I'm so sorry Terry :( The fact that YouTube allows mess like this to happens is bonkers and I wish you the best of luck with all of this 💖 We're all rooting for you!!
Terry, no! This is frustrating and terrible and I'm so sorry this is happening to you. You already have overwhelming evidence on your side, but like you said a human being would need to actually look into the case and they seem unwilling to intervene in these automatic cases unless big money is involved. I'd say something like "why are people like this?" but we all know. Someone else mentioned getting a PO box, and if that's still too revealing I wonder if it's possible to assign a representative instead of actually filing as yourself? I don't really know what I'm talking about, honestly, but either way we're all crossing our fingers and rooting for you. These guys are pathetic assholes and I hope they either get bored or get FAFOed. You're incredible and don't deserve this. Like many others have noted you're an inspiration to a lot of us out here trying to do similar work. Good luck out there. 🫶
No matter what happens I will be there to support you on any medium, site, appreciate, whatever your work can be found on.
How horrible! So so so sorry to hear about this Terry. I work in the legal field (albeit in a different country), and if I've learned anything in my time, it's that a good ol letter from a lawyer/first step of legal action will often get a person to back off pretty quickly. I would imagine a rando filing unfounded copyright claims is not interested in progressing a legal claim <3 take care of yourself!
Oh my goodness, I had no idea that's how the copyright strike worked, so thank you for sharing this! I am horrified that this is happening to you because you are so incredibly inspiring and such a fun individual!
Bless you Terry! I’m a bit of a lurker but commenting so you have an extra positive voice to combat the negative!!! What you’re doing on this platform is amazing and you inspired me to finally make my own mini girlie game (I credit you in my blog! https://cheylea.github.io/blogs/20260418_bee-garden.html ). I really hope you’re okay and so sorry this is happening to you. I don’t understand what goes on in peoples heads to be so nasty in a space that is clearly trying to build people up and empower them. Just know that what you’re doing on YouTube and your challenge this year is inspiring many including this 30 something girlie! ❤️❤️❤️
I’m so sorry to hear about this Terry. I hope it brings you any consolation to know this is an attack by *so few people* (maybe even 1 person?). I recently underwent similar (but not as extreme) problems like this from a single troll on the internet making many accounts to lower the customer rating on a project I made, which otherwise was broadly enjoyed. It’s a shame how much negative impact a single person can have in our current online environment.
you don't deserve this at all. im so sorry people are treating you this way for absolutely no reason and how YouTube still aren't fixing that copyright system. it's horrifying that many creators have to dox themselves if they can't afford a lawyer to file for them. from being a creator myself, I usually see this happen, mostly to creators in the commentary space. but I've never expected this to happen to you. this is disgusting. Please stay safe out there, you've been pushing through so much already. We're all here to stand by you!!
This is very disheartening to hear... Especially since your videos have been some of the biggest inspiration of my own game dev ! I've heard people can rent PO boxes - is it allowed to rent a PO box and use that address instead of your own so that you don't have to dox yourself?
I had this thought too
Really awful to hear you're going through this, sounds like you've got the best plan of action though. Good luck, take em out!
I am so sorry this is happening to you. I don’t understand why it’s the goal for some people to tear everyone down that brings some joy into this world. I am glad that you’re in a position to fight back a little! It’s silly that youtube sides with the copyright claimers only and not the creators. I am also just so thankful for your content. It’s always a lot of fun to watch and I’m always in awe of the creativity you put into just the editing!
wtf, that is so EVIL of them! I'm so sorry you're dealing with this, especially since you're such a beacon of joy in game development ❤️
I'm so sorry this happened Terry. well done for keeping your head up and staying safe and strong! looking forward to playing your mermaid game and hope your teeth don't cause you too much hassle... I have no doubt you'll figure out something to combat these dweebs!