YouTube War: Philip DeFranco’s GoFundMe Raises $60,000 As ‘Bold Guy’ Matt ‘Hoss’ Sues Ethan And Hila Of H3H3

There is a big battle going on in the land of YouTube. Matt “Hoss” Hosseinzadeh, better known as “Bold Guy” on YouTube, is suing Ethan and Hila of H3H3 Productions for copyright infringement. As seen in the below video titled “We’re Being Sued” from the H3H3 YouTube channel, the long saga of why “Bold Guy” is suing Ethan and Hila is explained.

Warning: The following video titled “We’re Being Sued” contains language that might be offensive to some viewers.

Another famous YouTube star has come to the rescue, by setting up a GoFundMe page for Ethan and Hila, which has raised more than $60,000 thus far. Philip DeFranco described the whole melee, as set forth in the video above. Ethan and Hila became the target of the “MattHossZone” star when the H3H3 duo said that they created a video that made fun of the “Bold Guy.” Out of approximately 11 or more minutes of Ethan and Hila’s original video, they claim that they used approximately three minutes or so of the “Bold Guy” footage as a reference.

Called a typical “reaction” video, or a “review” video, it is a common practice on YouTube to use portions of footage from other videos or songs so that viewers have a point of reference. For example, a recent video titled “ELDERS REACT TO BEYONCÉ – LEMONADE” from the Fine Brothers showed older people reacting to the new album. With the Lemonade album’s music played in the video, nobody expects Queen Bey to sue the Fine Bros.

However, Ethan and Hila claim that they are being attacked by the “Bold Guy” and his lawsuit simply because Matt Hoss didn’t like the things the duo had to say about him in their video. It is a video that has been removed from YouTube via copyright claims, but the “We’re Being Sued” video shows snippets of Ethan and Hila speaking in footage that appeared in the deleted video.

The practice is called “Fair Use,” and generally, it goes by unnoticed until someone makes a big stink about it. While Ethan and Hila said they received comments from people telling them not to worry about Matt’s lawsuit — saying it was frivolous and should get thrown out — the H3H3 YouTube stars had to disagree. They learned that they would still need a legal defense fund in order to defend themselves against Matt in a court of law.

Hila worried that the people making the decisions in the court case might not understand the nuances of YouTube.

Meanwhile, DeFranco came to their rescue and began to help the embattled YouTube stars — who said they couldn’t ask for money — by setting up Ethan and Hila’s GoFundMe page, and starting off with a $5,000 donation. DeFranco’s view was toward the larger implications that such a lawsuit could have. Ethan and Hila claimed that Matt threatened them before suing them, and tried to wrestle $4,000 and an apology video out of them before suing them.

Ethan and Hila don’t want YouTube stars to be harassed in such a manner, and DeFranco explained that this case could have larger implications and set a precedent when it comes to YouTube.

“In my and many others’ opinion this is an attempt to step on freedom of speech via a broken copyright system and most people’s confusion over Fair Use. The class acts that Ethan and Hila are, they did not ask for viewers to support their defense fund with money, but this situation is bigger than them. If they are bullied and drained of funds because of this ridiculous lawsuit and/or they lose this case it could set a terrible precedent for other creators. Now it’s H3H3 productions, but tomorrow it’s you and your favorite creators being scared into keeping their mouths shut.”

Estimating that it could take about $100,000 to defend their case, Ethan and Hila didn’t ask for the GoFundMe page to be set up, but they sure are feeling the love from all their YouTube supporters and others donating to their page.

[Image via Shutterstock]