Court Rejects Fair Use Claim, Orders YouTube to Unmask Anime Recap Channels
The ruling, which cites a recent audiobook reading case, signals courts are skeptical of the recap-and-narration video format that many anime commentary channels rely on.
Reporting from 1 source: GIGAZINE.
A US federal court ruled that three YouTube channels that clip KADOKAWA anime and add Korean narration and commentary are not protected by fair use. The court ordered YouTube to disclose the channel operators' personal information. The operators have appealed to the Ninth Circuit.
KADOKAWA filed DMCA subpoenas in January 2026 seeking the identities of three YouTube channel operators who post clips of its anime with Korean commentary. The channels, run by Kim Bong-seop, Yang Woo-hyeok, and Ko Yeong-yun, have roughly 500,000 and 350,000 subscribers respectively.
The operators argued their videos were transformative and even linked to the official Korean streaming platform Laftel, claiming an 82 percent engagement rate on those links. But Judge Trina L. Thompson ruled in July that the channels reproduced substantial portions of the works without enough transformation.
The operators have appealed to the Ninth Circuit and asked to delay the disclosure while the appeal is pending.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.