YouTube removes 2,000 animated Vietnamese videos for copyright violation

Between June and October the three YouTube channels, Wolfoo Family, Wolfoo Channel and Wolfoo's Story potentially each lost 2-3 billion views, according to social media data provider Social Blade.

Monthly gained video views for Wolfoo Channel. Photo courtesy of Social Blade

This caused the company losses of $2 million, and "The damage is increasing every hour," it said.

Sconnect said YouTube removed the videos following a demand by the UK’s Entertainment One, the producer of Peppa Pig, an animated series about a pig and his family.

"Entertainment One has falsely identified our videos as a product derived from Peppa Pig and filed their complaints to YouTube, which accepted all their copyright claims and deleted Wolfoo videos."

YouTube allows users to seek the removal of videos they deem a violation of its policies.

The fact that YouTube removed the videos showed that its request was "in accordance with the procedures as prescribed" by the platform, eOne said.

YouTube said Saturday it never acts as an intermediary to resolve conflicts between two parties and only provides a tool for users to protect themselves.

Content owners are provided with a tool to protect their videos while users are provided with a tool to report copyright violations, it added.

A still from 'Peppa Pig' animated series. Photo courtesy of eOne

Sconnect said 195 Wolfoo videos are no longer restricted, but nearly 2,000 others remain flagged and restricted.

Nguyen Xuan Cuong, deputy chairman of the Vietnam Digital Communications Association, said YouTube’s removal of nearly 2,000 Wolfoo videos has caused great damage to Sconnect.

All parties involved should contribute to the case so that it could be a learning experience for other Vietnamese businesses of cross-border services.

Sconnect was launched in 2014 as a social media video platform. It has a total of 56 million subscribers to its 19 channels and 18 billion views.

Peppa Pig debuted in 2004 on TV before being uploaded on social media platforms.

Sconnect recently filed a lawsuit against the British company for unfair competition, claiming losses of nearly $292,000 as a result.

It had been sued by the latter in January in Russian and British courts for intellectual property infringement, claiming Wolfoo is a "reworked" version of the Peppa Pig characters.

But the Moscow City Court ruled against eOne. Immediately the company withdrew all claims.

Sconnect said during the legal battle eONE had used the unresolved lawsuit to copyright "Wolfoo" videos on YouTube.