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The Fine Bros back down after internet backlash, rescind all "React" trademarks

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Not open for further replies.
S

ScientificPizza

Banned
TheYanger said:
And their apology marks a clear delineation for the END of that pattern, so again, until they actually do it again it's just people hoping for others to fail (with extreme vitriol) over nothing. The outrage wasn't over all of this past nonsense until the react world debacle, and that debacle is over, now faux outrage over shit that has been there for years is suddenly some kind of cause to unite behind?
Click to expand...

Just because someone apologises for doing something does not mean they should no longer be held accountable for it
 
S

smurfx

get some go again
would be kinda funny if someone went and completely stole their react format including the graphics and all that other crap they said they were defending. can't take down the video anymore right?
 
Z

zoozilla

Member
TheYanger said:
And their apology marks a clear delineation for the END of that pattern, so again, until they actually do it again it's just people hoping for others to fail (with extreme vitriol) over nothing. The outrage wasn't over all of this past nonsense until the react world debacle, and that debacle is over, now faux outrage over shit that has been there for years is suddenly some kind of cause to unite behind?
Click to expand...

Exactly.

I mean, how could anyone still be outraged over the BP oil spill in 2010? They apologized for it, people!

Obviously the two situations are not comparable as far as impact, just using an extreme example to show how naive your thinking is
 
RiccochetJ

RiccochetJ

Gold Member
I actually didn't think that the "React World" was a bad idea. It seemed like a smart way to be able to grow the brand to different languages etc.

But hoo boy did they fuck up with all their attempted trademark licensing and their previous history of basically going after anyone who made a reaction video.

I'm glad they got slapped down as hard as they did.
 
F

FStop7

Banned
Man Puncher said:
SkgzyBd.jpg
Click to expand...

Well if the Internet doesn't work out there's always that barista job in Portland
 
C

Chris R

Member
Never cared for their videos, but holy hell that eye roll was all I needed to make sure I never watch a single video of theirs again.
 
G

Game Guru

Member
sometimes i game said:
Their announcement included a quote from YouTube saying that they're not surprised to see such pioneers innovating when it comes to content creation.

Why isn't anyone made at youtube for loving this idea? I want to see more YouTube hate.
Click to expand...

There is a ton of hate over YouTube's various practices in regards to content creators. The difference is that YouTube is in such a dominate position in terms of the video hosting world that content creators have to support YouTube if they want a mass audience to see their videos. There's a reason why all the major video uploaders who are not YouTube-preferred ones like PewDiePie and the Fine Bros host their videos on their own websites a week before hosting on YouTube and why the majority of them also have Patreons, and it is because YouTube's algorithmic system is a mess even in comparison to dealing with a simple DMCA takedown notice, especially in regards to waiting for YouTube to actually respond to it. This all leads to a YouTube culture where anyone who abuses copyright claims and copyright strikes are treated as an enemy to all the content creators of YouTube, which the Fine Bros ended up stumbling up against with their overreach. Internet video creators can't fight YouTube because of its influence and power on internet video, but they can fight and make an example of the Fine Bros who try to abuse YouTube's messy system for their own purposes.
 
M

MikeDown

Banned
Sure they look derpy and on the verge of tears, but as a victim of youtube's fucked up copyright system I hardly feel sorry for them. They are shady & malicious; only being sorry they got caught. I pray the internet never buries the hatchet with these two assholes.
 
N

neemmss

Member
TheYanger said:
And their apology marks a clear delineation for the END of that pattern, so again, until they actually do it again it's just people hoping for others to fail (with extreme vitriol) over nothing. The outrage wasn't over all of this past nonsense until the react world debacle, and that debacle is over, now faux outrage over shit that has been there for years is suddenly some kind of cause to unite behind?
Click to expand...

"I'm sorry honey, I will never hit you again. I don't know what I was thinking" - constantly abusive boy/girlfriend
[spongebob timecards voice]*3 weeks later*[/spongebob timecards voice]
right when you forgot and weren't expecting it to happen because he/she was on good behavior *BAM*

So no, fuck these guys. What about all the trouble and crap that they caused FOR YEARS before they were caught? What about getting their drone of a fanbase to launch attack raids on other react videos because they think that they own react videos? What about the censorship in the comments section? If they weren't caught they would STILL be doing it RIGHT NOW.

Abusing the system for years now and now that they are caught..."ohhh let's just put out a sob video to say we are sorry. It'll blow over....people will feel sorry for us and come back". Get a grip. Just you watch, as soon as this dies down they will start doing takedowns again under peoples noses.
 
J

jman2050

Member
I have a hard time believing that they were advised with legal counsel to go forward with any of this. Either they presumed that they knew exactly what they could or could not do with their brand and intellectual property and never bothered asking their lawyers about it or they ignored their legal counsel or their lawyers are just as scummy (and stupid)
 
C

CapitalismSucks DonkeyBalls

Banned
jman2050 said:
I have a hard time believing that they were advised with legal counsel to go forward with any of this. Either they presumed that they knew exactly what they could or could not do with their brand and intellectual property and never bothered asking their lawyers about it or they ignored their legal counsel or their lawyers are just as scummy (and stupid)
Click to expand...

Considering how adamant they are that they created the "reaction video" genre, I wouldn't doubt they believed this was a full-proof plan. When two dudes think they will change the world with their dumbass format, you know their heads aren't on straight.
 
S

SmackAttack

Member
I had no idea how delusional these guys really are. I didn't know about the Ellen stuff and such. Screw these guys.

Also, the subscriber countdown stream is amazing.
 
X

Xenex

Member
RiccochetJ said:
I actually didn't think that the "React World" was a bad idea. It seemed like a smart way to be able to grow the brand to different languages etc.

But hoo boy did they fuck up with all their attempted trade mark licensing and their previous history of basically going after anyone who made a reaction video.

I'm glad they got slapped down as hard as they did.
Click to expand...

They applied for a US Trademark. BUT US trademarks don't apply internationally. I really don't know what they are on about people from other countries now being able to make React ™ videos
 
F

FStop7

Banned
jman2050 said:
I have a hard time believing that they were advised with legal counsel to go forward with any of this. Either they presumed that they knew exactly what they could or could not do with their brand and intellectual property and never bothered asking their lawyers about it or they ignored their legal counsel or their lawyers are just as scummy (and stupid)
Click to expand...

They came up with a cool idea and figured out how to make their creativity profitable. But then they probably surrounded themselves with sycophants, got high on the smell of their own farts, and decided to be greedy shitheads.
 
RiccochetJ

RiccochetJ

Gold Member
Xenex said:
They applied for a US Trademark. BUT US trademarks don't apply internationally. I really don't know what they are on about people from other countries now being able to make React ™ videos
Click to expand...

I honestly have no clue how all this is supposed to work on an international level. I was under the impression that in the Youtube world, it would give them even greater leverage to do those takedown strikes they were so fond of doing prior to this.
 
B

BreezyLimbo

Banned
RiccochetJ said:
I honestly have no clue how all this is supposed to work on an international level. I was under the impression that in the Youtube world, it would give them even greater leverage to do those takedown strikes they were so fond of doing prior to this.
Click to expand...

That is pretty much it was for, to abuse Youtubes system.
 
I

inky

Member
RiccochetJ said:
I honestly have no clue how all this is supposed to work on an international level. I was under the impression that in the Youtube world, it would give them even greater leverage to do those takedown strikes they were so fond of doing prior to this.
Click to expand...

I thought that was the whole idea tbh.

They know they don't have the personnel, reach, size etc. to do their schtick for every country on earth, so youtube being an international platform would give them the tools to deal with any channel that didn't get in line i.e. license from them and surrender a % of adsense and sponsor money. So if I did "gauchos react" in Argentina and it became popular it doesn't matter that their trademarks can't reach me, youtube's takedown system definitely can. If I decided to license it through them (more like forced to, or lose it), then they get money for basically doing nothing.
 
E

EatinOlives

Member
inky said:
I thought that was the whole idea tbh.

They know they don't have the personnel, reach, size etc. to do their schtick for every country on earth, so youtube being an international platform would give them the tools to deal with any channel that didn't get in line i.e. license from them and surrender a % of adsense and sponsor money. So if I did "gauchos react" in Argentina and it became popular it doesn't matter that their trademarks can't reach me, youtube's takedown system definitely can. If I decided to license it through them (more like forced to, or lose it), then they get money for basically doing nothing.
Click to expand...

Indeed. The trademark gives them all the more power through which to arbitrarily take down whatever they wanted, even if the videos were uploaded internationally. One could argue that would only result in the video being blocked in certain countries, but that requires quite a bit of finesse that YouTube simply doesn't expend.

The Fine Bros were attempting to hop on over to the other side of YouTube's fog wall that is the copyright/trademark protection system. Them refusing to elaborate on what they considered to be "their format" was an attempt to set up a wall of their own. No doubt they'll try to pull this shit again, only next time they won't be so upfront about it.
 
M

M3d10n

Member
Making a livelihood from an internet audience is like keeping an wolf-hybrid as a pet. The day you try to treat it as a dog, you'll get bitten.
 
V

Vicetrailia

Member
All of this is pretty interesting. Do they have investors who came up with this? It's aggressive and cut throat, but also incredibly general and downright theft to try and control all types of reaction videos.
 
M

Maximo

Member
ssolitare said:
All of this is pretty interesting. Do they have investors who came up with this? It's aggressive and cut throat, but also incredibly general and downright theft to try and control all types of reaction videos.
Click to expand...

Probably just greedy fucks, they have people work for them and pay the child actors, everyone including them wants a bigger piece of the pie, anyway they can.
 
M

MonorailCat

Member
ssolitare said:
All of this is pretty interesting. Do they have investors who came up with this? It's aggressive and cut throat, but also incredibly general and downright theft to try and control all types of reaction videos.
Click to expand...

Nah, people like that are never happy. They made 10k+ dollars a day with almost no effort, but they HAD to make even more .. so they came up with a pyramid scheme. And in their mind it was the best idea mankind ever had. They still think that. They still think that everybody is stupid as fuck and should just accept their glorious ReactWorld.
It's just greed combined with narcissism. Some people can be happy with what they accomplished .. and some are never happy. They need more. Even if it transcends moral borders.
 
diablos991

diablos991

Can’t stump the diablos
Dear OP,

The Y axis in your chart is broken.That is most definitely not how the chart looks to them.
 
D

Doctor Ironic

Member
I don't think I understand people who are claiming that Fine Bros are actually hurting from this. They lost 250k subscribers out of... 14 million? That's a drop in the bucket, no?
 
P

Pluto

Member
Game Guru said:
There is a ton of hate over YouTube's various practices in regards to content creators. The difference is that YouTube is in such a dominate position in terms of the video hosting world that content creators have to support YouTube if they want a mass audience to see their videos. There's a reason why all the major video uploaders who are not YouTube-preferred ones like PewDiePie and the Fine Bros host their videos on their own websites a week before hosting on YouTube and why the majority of them also have Patreons, and it is because YouTube's algorithmic system is a mess even in comparison to dealing with a simple DMCA takedown notice, especially in regards to waiting for YouTube to actually respond to it. This all leads to a YouTube culture where anyone who abuses copyright claims and copyright strikes are treated as an enemy to all the content creators of YouTube, which the Fine Bros ended up stumbling up against with their overreach. Internet video creators can't fight YouTube because of its influence and power on internet video, but they can fight and make an example of the Fine Bros who try to abuse YouTube's messy system for their own purposes.
Click to expand...
Could this lead to the end of or at least a hiatus for youtubers react? I don't think many other content creators would jump at the chance to be in their videos at the moment.
 
A

Aiii

So not worth it
Pluto said:
Could this lead to the end of or at least a hiatus for youtubers react? I don't think many other content creators would jump at the chance to be in their videos at the moment.
Click to expand...

They have 40 empoyees to feed, nothing is going on hiatus.
 
S

scamander

Banned
I just wish some Youtubers that made videos the Fine Bros. used for their React™ion series were flagging them, so that TFB would lose monetization or even the whole channel. I know it won't happen, but dreams are nice. :p
 
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