Anime News Network CEO Christophe Macdonald Admits They Were Wrong After Threatening YouTuber Hero Hei
Anime News Network CEO Christophe Macdonald admitted he and Anime News Network were in the wrong after they threatened YouTuber Hero Hei.
Macdonald took to Twitter to admit his mistake. He wrote, “I made a mistake and I admit it. I stand by our claim that the video was infringing, but I was completely wrong about the outcome of the dispute. I just saw the notification from YouTube, they sided with you in regards to our DMCA complaint. I deleted [Anime News Network] tweets.”
@_Hero_Hei_ I made a mistake and I admit it. I stand by our claim that the video was infringing, but I was completely wrong about the outcome of the dispute. I just saw the notification from YouTube, they sided with you in regards to our DMCA complaint. I deleted @anime tweets.
— Christophe Macdonald (@ANN_Ed) June 2, 2019
Macdonald’s admission of making a mistake comes after Anime News Network issued a DMCA strike against one of his videos titled, “Vic Mignogna Anime News Network Interview Critique w/ Chat.” The DMCA strike against Hero Hei’s YouTube channel prevented him from live streaming.
Following the DMCA strike, Hero Hei indicated he would dispute the claim and had contacted lawyer Nick Rekieta, who indicated he would represent Hero Hei.
“I am representing Hero Hei in this counter notification action. We have sent a counter-notification to ANN, and since I was doing it professionally, and not on behalf of myself, there’s no profanity or insults in there. If it was from me, it would probably be a little bit different.”
Hero Hei would eventually claim victory against Anime News Network and have his live streaming privileges restored.
He would tell his followers and fans:
“We won the dispute. We beat Anime News Network. They knew better than to try to actually sue over this bullshit strike, because they would’ve got their ass handed to them. And they did, because they didn’t escalate the issue. They chickened out.”
He would follow also tweet out that he had won.
Remember my strike by Anime News Network? Yeahhh, it’s gone. We won the dispute!!! I want to give a huge thanks to @NickRekieta for all the help. Also infinite thanks to the #IStandWithVic community! Thank you so much for the words of support and backings. Aaaand… ( 1/2 )
— Hei (@_Hero_Hei_) May 29, 2019
After Hero Hei tweeted out that he had won, Anime News Network threatened Hero Hei and disputed that he had won.
In a now deleted tweet, they threatened:
“If by “won the dispute” you mean “gave up and deleted the infringing video.” Sure. Whatever. We dare you to upload it again in the exact same format. “
They also provided a screenshot of the alleged dispute indicating a video had been removed by a user. However, their screenshot did not indicate what that video was and if it even had anything to do with Hero Hei.
In fact, Nick Rekieta indicated that the screenshot might have been misleading.
Imagine being @Anime and suggesting to the world that you can delete a video BEFORE resolving a copyright dispute.
SOLID REPORTING AS ALWAYS. https://t.co/enJJQJ3RZN
— Rekieta Law: Speech is Free, but Lawyers Aren’t (@NickRekieta) June 1, 2019
Hero Hei would also call out Anime News Network describing them as “Fake News. He provided a screenshot indicating that YouTube had reinstated his video and that he only removed it after he won the dispute.
The screenshot from YouTube states, “The video has been reinstated and the strike has been resolved.”
Fake News!
– YT reinstated my vid in accordance with DMCA.
– I deleted my vid after it was reinstated so you would not try and possibly abuse the DMCA again.
– You just gave me the date the strike was issued on, info I greatly needed. Matches the date of your CEOs tweet. Thanks! pic.twitter.com/ydlMdCbN5S— Hei (@_Hero_Hei_) June 1, 2019
He would also respond by indicating he was “living rent free” in the Anime News Network CEO’s mind.
Woke up this morning to find out I am living rent free in the mind of a “CEO.” Interesting start to the day, cheers!
— Hei (@_Hero_Hei_) June 1, 2019
Following Hero Hei’s response, Macdonald admitted he and Anime News Network were in the wrong. He then proceeded to delete the tweets.
What do you make of Macdonald’s response to Hero Hei? What do you make of Hero Hei and Nick Rekieta’s responses? Will this make you question Anime News Network’s reporting in the future?
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