Bungie is suing a player and Youtuber after he filed a wave of fraudulent copyright takedown notices against Destiny 2 videos on YouTube earlier this year. According to Bungie, they have identified the individual behind 96 fake copyright notices and is now facing legal action.
Bungie conducted a thorough investigation through which they identified the perpetrator. The company has filed legal action against Califonia Youtuber Nicholas Minor, who runs the channel Lord Nazo.
Extremely disappointed to find out that Lord Nazo, our friend and someone in direct communication with us about the takedowns, was the person who issued the fake DMCA takedowns “on behalf” of Bungie. https://t.co/U8sUiwAZoY
— Owen Spence (@AtlyxMusic) June 22, 2022
Minor allegedly impersonated Bungie’s trademark protection partner, CSC Global. It all started in December 2021, when Bungie’s trademark protection partner, CSC Global, issued a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) against Minors Youtube channel. Minor had posted Destiny expansion The Taken King’s original soundtrack on his Youtube channel. According to the company, this is a copyright infringement and violation of the company’s policy on fan use of the intellectual property.
According to the lawsuit, Minor set up two new Gmail accounts that matched the CSC name.
He subsequently sent similar requests to numerous other YouTube accounts, including the official Bungie channel.
“Ninety-six times, Minor sent DMCA takedown notices purportedly on behalf of Bungie, identifying himself as Bungie’s “Brand Protection” vendor in order to have YouTube instruct innocent creators to delete their Destiny 2 videos or face copyright strikes.” the complaint says.
Bungie issued a formal statement stating that they were not responsible for the incidents and said that investigations into the issue were ongoing.
The studio is suing for; “damages and injunctive relief” due to the incident, claiming that it suffered economic and reputational injury. Bungie is now seeking a total of $7.6 million in damages.
The studio has had legal battles before. Destiny 2 cheat creator Elite Boss Tech got was the target of yet another lawsuit the company filed. Bungie will receive $13.5 million from Destiny 2 cheat firm.