A game developer has invoked the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in order to distance itself from YouTuber PewDiePie who, over the weekend, said a racial slur during a livestream of the game "Battlegrounds."
"What a fucking n**ger," PewDiePie let slip during the livestream. "Sorry, but what the fuck. What a fucking asshole."
PewDiePie, whose real name is Felix Kjellberg, has over 57 million subscribers on YouTube. He also has a history of making racist statements.
His latest comment was the last straw for one game developer. Sean Vanaman of Campo Santo said on Twitter Sunday that he would file a DMCA to ensure that PewDiePie could no longer profit off playing his popular game "Firewatch."
http://twitter.com/vanaman/status/906983575337107456
“There is a bit of leeway you have to have with the internet when u wake up every day and make video games,” Vanaman added in a later tweet. “There’s also a breaking point.”
“He’s worse than a closeted racist: he’s a propagator of despicable garbage that does real damage to the culture around this industry," Vanaman said.
A DMCA claim allows Campo Santo and other game developers to assert copyright infringement in a livestream video on YouTube or other platforms. Gamers typically insist that their livestreaming falls under fair use, but game developers have taken action to preclude gamers from monetizing their livestreams.
Back in February, PewDiePie made national headlines for the anti-Semitic language he espoused. The Wall Street Journal posted a review of several of videos in which he made anti-Semitic statements. Disney's Maker Studios broke ties with PewDiePie and YouTube cut him off of some of its paid services.
PewDiePie's affiliation with the alt-right movement ultimately led to a reckoning after the Charlottesville protests. He insisted that he was "done" making anti-Semitic jokes and tried to distance himself from the white supremacist protesters.
Not even a month later, PewDiePie casually used the n-word while livestreaming.
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