Warner Bros. is 'threatening to destroy,' a popular Mortal Kombat Youtube channel, it's claimed | VGC
Is Warner Bros. Killing Fan Creativity?
Warner Bros. has issued a cease and desist to the owner of a popular Mortal Kombat YouTube channel, ToastedShoes, for using mods in his videos that allegedly infringe on the company's intellectual property rights. Despite the mods being previously ignored by Warner Bros. and even praised by Mortal Kombat's co-creator, Ed Boon, the company is now threatening to take down the channel if the videos are not removed. The affected videos, which include characters not originally in the game, have collectively garnered over 1 billion views.
How has ToastedShoes responded to the cease and desist notice from Warner Bros.?
ToastedShoes has responded to the cease and desist notice from Warner Bros. by claiming that the company is threatening to destroy his channel. He shared on Twitter that he received an Intellectual Property Infringement Notice from Warner Bros., which requested him to delete all Mortal Kombat 1 videos from his channel. ToastedShoes also mentioned that the email he received cannot be responded to, leaving him with no way of contacting Warner Bros2. to determine what is infringing on their copyright. Despite the notice, ToastedShoes seems to continue running his channel and engaging with his audience.
On what grounds is Warner Bros. claiming that the Mortal Kombat mods used by ToastedShoes infringe on their intellectual property rights?
Warner Bros. is claiming that the Mortal Kombat mods used by ToastedShoes infringe on their intellectual property rights because the mods involve altering the game's content, specifically by adding characters not originally featured in the game. By using Warner Bros.' intellectual property (the Mortal Kombat game) in a modified form and sharing videos of these mods, ToastedShoes is allegedly infringing on the company's rights to control the distribution and usage of their product. As a result, Warner Bros. has requested the removal of all Mortal Kombat 1 videos from ToastedShoes' channel, or they will issue copyright strikes that could lead to the channel's deletion.