Anime Youtuber Hero Hei has announced that he has won his counterclaim against the DMCA strike issued by Anime News Network against his channel.
On May 28th, Hero Hei returned to livestreaming on YouTube by hosting a stream titled – WE WON – (ANN Vs. HeroHei). In the livestream, Hero Hei announced that the DMCA strike against his channel, issued due to a copyright claim by Anime News Network regarding the use of one of their interviews with Dragon Ball Super: Broly and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable voice actor Vic Mignogna, had been removed from his account:
https://youtu.be/Nx0eo4MQciE
According to Hero Hei, the strike was removed due to Anime News Network failing to follow up and take action legal action against Hero Hei in the ten-to-fourteen day window following the filing of a counter-statement by lawyer Nick Rekieta on Hero Hei’s behalf:
“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.”
While Hero Hei has had his streaming privileges on YouTube reinstated, he notes that this experience has left him notably paranoid, especially regarding the information within his streams and having his channel struck again in the future:
“I’m never going to leave a stream up ever again, just to be safe. Even if it’s one that I’m completely confident is safe, I’m still going to delete it because I am now paranoid about shit, to be honest, bro.
After I got that strike, dude, I’ve been redacting information in my videos, I’m like scared to say shit, it’s made me literally paranoid in a way, because I’m like, ‘if I get one more bullshit strike I can’t upload for three months either.’”
When asked by a fan for the reason Anime News Network targeted and struck the channel, Hero Hei stated that he doesn’t “think they liked what I had to say about their podcast with Vic Mignogna.”
During the livestream, Hero Hei also took a moment to compose and publish a tweet thanking Rekieta, the community, and various outlets, including Bounding Into Comics, for their assistance in bringing awareness to the circumstances surrounding the DMCA strike:
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
many thanks to those who covered this situation and helped bring awareness – @OneAngryGamerHD @BoundingComics @YellowFlashGuy @ThatUmbrella @ToyBountyHunter @RealClownfishTV @SGSAMII @SENPAiSNTHOME @ChambersofHeart @ComeGeekSome1 ! Sorry if I missed anyone! Much love to you all!
— Hei (@_Hero_Hei_) May 29, 2019
Though his livestreaming privileges on YouTube have been restored, Hero Hei indicated that he would also continue to stream on his personal twitch channel, the alternative platform he had been using to stream in the wake of the initial DMCA strike.