Students and workers’ go-to lo-fi music channel Lofi Girl received a copyright strike from YouTube after Malaysian record label FMC Music Sdn Bhd issued a takedown notice on July 10.
In a tweet posted on the same day, Lofi Girl stated that “the lofi radios have been taken down because of false copyright strikes.” The channel also mentioned in the tweet the official accounts of YouTube Creators and YouTube hoping that they would resolve the issue as soon as possible.
The lofi radios have been taken down because of false copyright strikes, hopefully @YouTubeCreators @YouTube will sort this quickly… pic.twitter.com/X01hL6jT2N
— Lofi Girl (@lofigirl) July 10, 2022
Also included in the tweet was the screenshot of the copyright strike Lofi Girl received from YouTube. Along with the takedown notice, it contained a warning stating that acquiring more of the same strike would lead to account disablement.
The day after, YouTube replied to the tweet, stating that they had already confirmed the request to be “abusive.” “We’ve resolved the strikes + reinstated your vids – it can sometimes take 24-48 hours for everything to be back to normal!” they added, then proceeded to express their apologies.
confirmed the takedown requests were abusive & terminated the claimants account 😔 we've resolved the strikes + reinstated your vids – it can sometimes take 24-48 hours for everything to be back to normal! so sorry this happened & thx for your patience as we sorted it out ❤️🩹
— TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) July 11, 2022
Earlier today, July 13, YouTube added another reply in the thread saying, “hi, we’ve sent you an email with more details. please check your inbox.”
As of writing, two popular videos from Lofi Girl’s channel such as “lofi hip hop radio – beats to relax/study to” and “lofi hip hop radio – beats to sleep/chill to” still have a notice saying, “We’re processing this video. Check back later” when visited.
This case was not Lofi Girl’s first experience of being taken down. Last 2020, the channel faced a similar issue due to “non-compliance on YouTube’s Terms of Service” but was immediately recovered after an appeal stating that it was only a “mistake,” POP! reported.
Further back in 2017, Studio Ghibli also filed a copyright claim directed at Lofi Girl for its use of a looping GIF containing a character from the company’s anime film Whisper of the Heart named Shizuku Tsukishima. It was resolved after the channel changed the image into the now-used illustration of a girl wearing headphones while studying.
As of writing, Lofi Girl’s “lofi hip hop radio / beats to relax/study to” is officially back online.
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