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.

 

[Retreater]

Giving streamers a freebie to PREVIEW a product is different than streamers posting the entire product online for pirates.

Illegal streaming and internet piracy costs BILLIONS annually. Hasbro and every other company are right to fight it with any legal means available.

Anyone who doesn't understand this doesn't understand BUSINESS.

So I guess they honestly think someone is going to go frame by frame and screen capture a YouTube video, complete with fingers in the shots, and print it and bind it?
No way that would be worth anyone's effort. That's not how piracy works. It's ridiculous.
Not to mention they altered the rules after videos were posted.
They're jerks.

 

[Seramus]

I don't know what you do professionally BUT if people were stealing your product, is that cool?

Are they giving me lots of free advertising and drumming up discussion about the thing I'm selling? Did I specifically ask them to do so? Am I otherwise making enough money to pay my bills? If those three are "Yes", then absolutely.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I don't know what you do professionally BUT if people were stealing your product, is that cool?

You are extremely misrepresenting my position. I own an FLGS and I have quite recently been broken into and burgled. It was traumatic.

No, I am not forgiving the pirates, as you suggested. They can rot. I am saying, which should be obvious, because I said it, that they should not go after the people that they have asked to review their product under the pretext of combating piracy. Not that they should not combat piracy. Like Morrus has said, no one is making a PDF from screen shots of a YouTube video. They are making scans of the actual book, which is out there now. Go after them.

 

[Theory of Games]

So I guess they honestly think someone is going to go frame by frame and screen capture a YouTube video, complete with fingers in the shots, and print it and bind it?
No way that would be worth anyone's effort. That's not how piracy works. It's ridiculous.
Not to mention they altered the rules after videos were posted.
They're jerks.

 

[Arilyn]

Giving streamers a freebie to PREVIEW a product is different than streamers posting the entire product online for pirates.

Illegal streaming and internet piracy costs BILLIONS annually. Hasbro and every other company are right to fight it with any legal means available.

Anyone who doesn't understand this doesn't understand BUSINESS.

I saw the @SlyFlourish video. He did not show the entire book, not even close. It was an excellent, balanced review. It is exactly the type of video, WotC should be pleased with. @SlyFlourish did nothing wrong. Absolutely no way to predict WotC's bizarre reaction, especially considering 3000 physical copies entered the wild during GenCon.

 

[overgeeked]

Like Morrus has said, no one is making a PDF from screen shots of a YouTube video. They are making scans of the actual book, which is out there now. Go after them.

And yet that’s exactly what happened. There is a PDF circulating around taken from screen caps of a video D&D Shorts put up. Not the short one that’s still viewable. Rather a much longer one where he did a complete flip through.

 

[Minigiant]

I can't believe people seriously think youtubers slowly posting the contents of a unpublished book online for their thousands of followers is okay and that WOTC should do nothing about it.

Quickly flipping through pages and commenting is fine.

But I think some people slowly posting book text-quality images of the whole book sent WOTC is overreaction mode. And people like SlyFlourish got caught in the crossfire.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

And yet that’s exactly what happened. There is a PDF circulating around taken from screen caps of a video D&D Shorts put up. Not the short one that’s still viewable. Rather a much longer one where he did a complete flip through.

Really? I find that unbelievable. Like literally unbelievable.

You sure that it wasn't made by scanning one of the 3000 copies?

 

[Theory of Games]

Rer
I saw the @SlyFlourish video. He did not show the entire book, not even close. It was an excellent, balanced review. It is exactly the type of video, WotC should be pleased with. @SlyFlourish did nothing wrong. Absolutely no way to predict WotC's bizarre reaction, especially considering 3000 physical copies entered the wild during GenCon.
The

I saw the @SlyFlourish video. He did not show the entire book, not even close. It was an excellent, balanced review. It is exactly the type of video, WotC should be pleased with. @SlyFlourish did nothing wrong. Absolutely no way to predict WotC's bizarre reaction, especially considering 3000 physical copies entered the wild during GenCon.

Yet, he took it down. People who understand business and how piracy impacts it know why.

 

[Retreater]

Absolutely no way to predict WotC's bizarre reaction, especially considering 3000 physical copies entered the wild during GenCon.

I mean, they certainly got contact information for all 3000 people who won that lottery. Surely they can send the Pinkertons to 3000 addresses.