Anime Reaction YouTubers Battle Copyright Strikes from Remove Your Media

Key facts

• Nicholas Light, a YouTuber with 1.3 million subscribers, posted a video on September 6th claiming his channel would be deleted due to copyright strikes from Remove Your Media.
• Light alleged that Remove Your Media CEO Eric Green systematically targets creators featuring anime clips like Bleach and One Piece.
• Over 60 of Light's videos were temporarily taken down after more than a dozen DMCA takedown requests from Remove Your Media.
• Remove Your Media's legal representative Evan F. Stone said Viz Media and Crunchyroll are among their biggest anime clients.
• Stone argued that reaction videos are not transformative under fair use because they show copyrighted works in their entirety, sometimes behind paywalls.
• YouTube policy communications manager Jack Malon stated the platform does not decide rights ownership but removes content upon valid legal requests and allows counter-notifications.
• Ron and Michelle Jackson of Rice & Ginger also faced potential deletion but remained online after Light's advocacy.
• The conflict highlights increasing aggression from studios and distributors monitoring their IP online, raising questions about fair use and the creator economy.