Bungie Is Taking Destiny 2 Fans Behind Fake DMCA Takedowns To Court
Destiny 2 YouTubers were dealing with DMCA takedowns supposedly sent by the shooter’s developer Bungie earlier this year, but it turns out, these claims were coming from a YouTube creator issuing false takedowns under the guise of working for the studio. So now, Bungie’s taking him to court.
According to the documents detailing the studio’s complaint, Bungie issued a DMCA takedown to several YouTube channels back in December, and among them was Nicholas Minor, known online as “Lord Nazo.” Minor’s video featured music from Destiny 2‘s The Taken King expansion. Minor left the video up until January 2022, then it was deleted by YouTube.
Minor’s actions became apparent when he mistakenly identified himself as “Damian Reynolds” in an email sent by a different address ([email protected]), then switched to the Damian Reynolds account and sent an identical takedown targeting the same video. On March 18, YouTube flagged these notices as fraudulent and asked for documentation of authority to represent Bungie. Minor then responded with “I hereby retract my claim of copyright infringement.”
Despite being caught, Minor continued to send takedown notices with a separate fraudulent account. Not content with the hole he’d dug, Minor then used the situation to send a counternotification to YouTube regarding his own videos, claiming he believed the takedowns sent to his account were part of the fraudulent claims. This led to his discovery via IP address tracking.
As for what Bungie’s seeking by filing the complaint, the studio is seeking some money in damages (primarily citing the business defamation that followed what appeared to be Bungie taking down community videos), injunction relief barring Minor from impersonating the company or further infringing on copyright/trademarks, costs of attorney fees, interest, and punitive damages, and anything else the court is willing to give them. You can read the full complaint right here.
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