YouTuber Ethan Klein has filed lawsuits against three Twitch streamers for copyright infringement, claiming they misused his long-form exposé video 'Content Nuke: Hasan Piker' in a way that undermines fair use.
The lawsuit, filed on 19 June, targets creators Denims, Frogan and Kaceytron, accusing them of streaming his work without adding meaningful commentary or transformation—actions he says were done in bad faith.
In a follow-up video titled 'I'm Suing These Three Creators', Klein explained that each streamer failed to meet the standard of transformative content.
Instead of contributing to the original work, he argued, they used it for profit while offering little to no commentary, in some cases even walking away from their streams mid-playback.
Klein's History With Fair Use
Ethan Klein is no stranger to copyright law. In 2017, he and his wife Hila won a landmark case, Hosseinzadeh v. Klein, which helped define fair use in the realm of YouTube commentary. Their successful defence rested on editing, pausing, and critiquing content in a way that added new meaning—an approach now widely adopted by modern creators.
However, Klein says the streamers in question did not follow those standards. One allegedly let his video play for over an hour without speaking, another took a bathroom break mid-stream, and one reportedly 'smoked more than she spoke'.
As federal courts prepare to examine the case, the outcome could help further clarify where the line is drawn between fair use and copyright infringement in the growing world of reaction content.
The Three Streamers Allegedly Undermining Fair Use
Denims is accused of actively discouraging viewers from watching Klein's original video. At the end of her stream, she reportedly said: 'If you enjoyed not giving any views to that terrible video, follow, subscribe, throw a Prime.' Klein argued this message effectively told her audience to reward her for pirating his content.
Frogan, another accused creator, allegedly left Klein's video running while she left her desk. She returned to ask 'What happened?', highlighting her lack of engagement. Klein also criticised her sarcastic remark: 'It's time to watch the new Nuke ethically', calling it an admission of bad faith. The fact that Frogan later deleted the video-on-demand (VOD) from her channel only raised more questions.
Kaceytron, meanwhile, reportedly smoked marijuana 42 times during her stream while offering minimal commentary.
She opened by stating: 'A lot of people have been wanting to watch this without necessarily supporting Ethan Klein', which Klein interpreted as another blatant dismissal of fair use. At several points, she admitted she did not understand what was happening in the video.
Bigger Issues at Stake
Klein believes this case is about more than just three streamers. In 'I'm Suing These Three Creators', he warned that normalising such content could open the floodgates for major studios like Disney or Sony to pursue widespread copyright strikes. That, he said, could put the entire creator economy at risk.
Reaction content remains a staple on platforms like YouTube and Twitch. But as Klein's legal action shows, creators may soon need to tread more carefully—especially when the boundary between fair use and theft becomes increasingly blurred.
