Matt Hosseinzadeh v. Ethan Klein and Hila Klein

## Hosseinzadeh v. Klein

**Matt Hosseinzadeh v. Ethan Klein and Hila Klein** is a fair use lawsuit filed in April 2016 against Ethan Klein and Hila Klein, by Matt Hoss (referred to here by his full last name, Hosseinzadeh). The ensuing court case was eventually won by the Kleins, and has gone on to become legal precedent in fair use law.

## Background

Matt Hoss is a YouTuber who posts pickup artist and parkour videos. The Kleins posted a reaction commentary video containing parts of one of Hoss' videos, as they did with many other influencers at this time. The video, posted to the h3h3productions channel, was titled "The Big, the BOLD, the Beautiful". It was originally posted on February 15, 2016. Hoss sent YouTube a takedown notification, and YouTube removed the video. The Kleins then sent a counter notification challenging the takedown on the basis that their video was fair use and noncommercial.

Once the proceedings were over, the video was re-uploaded to the h3h3 channel on August 23, 2017.

## Lawsuit

On April 27, 2016, Hoss filed a first-amended complaint and jury demand to the United States District Court in Southern District of New York. Hoss filed the action alleging copyright infringement and seeking money in damages due to the Kleins having alleged misrepresentations in their counter notification. In the complaint, Hoss and his attorneys alleged the following:

> *On or about February 15, 2016, Defendants [Ethan and Hila Klein] published a video on their YouTube channel that copied and displayed virtually all of Mr. Hoss’s original Work (the “Infringing Video”). The Infringing Video features the Defendants purporting to discuss the Work in what they believe to be a humorous manner but in fact reproduces virtually all of the Work as nothing more than a prop in the Defendants’ “comedy routine.”* *The Infringing Video was created and published without license from Mr. Hoss in direct violation of Mr. Hoss’s exclusive rights as an author pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 106.*
>
>

The filing also made false claims that the Kleins purposefully misled users into thinking their video was a video by Hoss, and also that the Kleins doubled their subscriber count due to the video.

On May 24, 2016, Ethan and Hila posted a video to their h3h3productions channel titled "We're Being Sued" in which they discuss the contents of the lawsuit. They claimed that their video falls under U.S. fair use law, and that Hoss was trying to strongarm them into taking down the video because he didn't like that they criticized him. Hoss and his attorneys demanded that the Kleins remove their videos with his content, sign a mutual release and confidentiality agreement that they will never post his work again, and pay for Hoss' legal fees amounting to $3,750. The Kleins decided to keep the case going as they did not want to set a precedent in which content creators can sue other creators for using their work fairly. In an interview with TIME magazine, Ethan said that "the claim was a betrayal to users in the YouTube community, who are constantly being threatened over their work by 'bullies,' usually from large corporations."

On May 25, 2016, fellow YouTuber Philip DeFranco created a GoFundMe page titled "Help for H3H3," which ended up raising $170,765 in order to help the Kleins with their legal fees. The enormous response provoked the Kleins to look beyond their own case. In a video titled "A New Chapter for Fair Use on YouTube" posted on May 26, 2016, Ethan and Hila announced the FUPA Fund, “that will be used only for the purpose of protecting fair use and representing people big or small who are in legitimate need of protection.” Unfortunately, Ethan grossly underestimated the cost of his own legal fees, and eventually both the FUPA Fund as well as several thousands more of his own money were used to fight the case. This caused criticism and controversy, including from the likes of Keemstar.

On February 27, 2017, Ethan and Hila posted a video to their h3h3productions channel titled "We're Still Being Sued" in which they update their audience on the lawsuit. They mention that they have switched attorneys since beginning the lawsuit, and also discuss the financial burden of fighting such a lawsuit. Ethan shows that were charged $54,146.57 for one month of attorney work.

## Aftermath

The Kleins won the lawsuit, with U.S. District Judge Katherine B. Forrest ruling that their commentary video constituted "fair use as a matter of law" and describing it as "quintessential comment and criticism". The case is the first of its kind to receive a judgment; while not legally binding across the United States, it provided a significant and persuasive argument to be cited in future cases relating to fair use on YouTube. The case was a landmark case, and is still used as precedent today to discuss U.S. fair use law in the context of YouTube and other online videos.

On August 23, 2017, nearly 16 months after first receiving the lawsuit, Ethan and Hila announced that they had won the case, in a video posted to their YouTube channel titled "WE WON THE LAWSUIT!"

In response to their win, many fellow YouTubers such as PewDiePie, Markiplier, TheFineBros, and Minecraft creator Notch, all posted congratulatory messages.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Carrington, Terrica (February 27, 2018). "Exploring the Bounds of Fair Use: Hosseinzadeh v. Klein". Copyright Alliance. Retrieved on September 11, 2023.
2. ↑ Internet Archive. "The Big, the BOLD, the Beautiful (Reupload)".
3. ↑ h3h3Productions (August 23, 2017). "The Big, the BOLD, the Beautiful (Re-Upload)". via YouTube. Retrieved on September 11, 2023.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 United States District Court, Southern District of New York (April 27, 2016). First-Amended Complaint and Jury Demand / Civ. Action No.: 16-cv-3081 (KBF). Retrieved on September 11, 2023.
5. ↑ h3h3productions (May 24, 2016). "We're Being Sued". via YouTube. Retrieved on September 11, 2023.
6. ↑ Chan, Melissa (May 27, 2016). "This YouTube Star Got Sued, Raised $130,000, and Wants to Change the Site Forever". TIME Magazine. Retrieved on September 11, 2023.
7. ↑ DeFranco, Philip (May 25, 2016). "Help for H3H3". GoFundMe. Retrieved on September 11, 2023.
8. ↑ h3h3productions (May 26, 2016). "A New Chapter for Fair Use on YouTube". via YouTube. Retrieved on September 11, 2023.
9. ↑ h3h3productions (May 19, 2020). "Content Nuke - Keemstar". via YouTube. Retrieved on September 11, 2023.
10. ↑ h3h3productions (February 27, 2017). "We're Still Being Sued". via YouTube. Retrieved on September 11, 2023.
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 BBC News (August 24, 2017). "YouTube stars H3H3 win 'landmark' court case against Matt Hoss". Retrieved on September 11, 2023.
12. ↑ h3h3productions (August 23, 2017). "WE WON THE LAWSUIT!". via YouTube. Retrieved on September 11, 2023.