Many of you probably are wondering about the recent Twitch ban, so I wanted to share some context about my Twitch Ban since it relates to an issue I’ve been dealing with the last several months.
A 3D modeler (DigitrevX) filed DMCA takedowns on all of my VODs, claiming he owns the copyright to my body. He had also been posting about this on twitter for weeks as well, but since I try to avoid drama, I’ve ignored it (it’s been hard). Given that he is now trying to get me de-platformed, he has escalated the issue and now I have to make a response, publicly, which includes providing all of the relevant receipts.
Digitrevx has been stirring up trouble years ago in the vocaloid community too way before this. I remember a vocaloid concert promoter getting in trouble because she used a model which Digitrevx made that used lifted assets from models he didn’t made which is widely considered a big no no in the MMD maker world and vocaloid communities. There are even more stories about this guy on reddit.
Long story short. He used a combination of pimp tactics along with DMCA abuse.
I’m confused. Is Projekt Melody a character DigitrevX created and operated in Unity, or did DigitrevX hire someone to perform using the avatar, or did an actual webcam performer hire DigitrevX to design an avatar for them, or was it an equal partnership between DigitrevX and a performer that’s since soured?
According to Melody she owns the IP, concept and design of her avatar (a point even mentioned by Digitrevx in some DMs). She brought in Digitrevx as an outside contractor afterwards to make the model around the time of her initial kickstarter for said model.
I agree that if it’s in the contract it would be copyfraud, but it likely wouldn’t be “work for hire”, not because she wouldn’t own the copyright but because work for hire is a specific legal term in US copyright, not just work that is “hired”.
Generally “work for hire” is specific to employees (with a few weirdly specific additions) and doesn’t apply to contractors. Instead, if you hire a contractor you need a contract that assigns you copyright. Walmart found this out the hard way when they fired their long time AV contractor and discovered Walmart did not own the copyright to all the videos they had commissioned over the years. It also applies to other art work you commission, such as wedding photos or tattoos- the contractor owns the copyright by default. If they aren’t your W-2 employee, chances are you don’t own the copyright absent a contract to that effect, even though you “hired” them to do the work.
