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HBO Youtube Copyright

HBO looks to kill a YouTuber’s pre-emptive Game of Thrones spoiler cast

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By John McCarthy, Opinion Editor

May 8, 2016 | 3 min read

US broadcaster HBO is making efforts to curb spoiler videos related to its top series Game of Thrones.

One YouTube channel known as the "Spanish Spoiler" has been hosting fully prophetic YouTube discussions about each episode – two days before it airs – and this has opened up a new issue for the broadcaster.

While not containing any copyright material, the channel’s predictions for each episode have been reportedly on the money.

The channel’s description states: “I cannot put spoilers for the 3rd episode of the 6th season of Game of Thrones, because HBO forbids it. But we can always count predictions, theories, and make analysis of what will happen. And who knows, maybe guess everything.”

Business Insider is reporting that the channel’s videos are being pulled under copyright claims however, under the understanding that the individual, who goes by Frikidoctor on Reddit, has a connection in the production leaking him snippets of script.

He said his spoiler connection is three week’s old, and no doubt HBO will be working intently on closing the breach.

“I don’t want to risk my source. This is a hobby for me, so it ends when YouTube bans me forever or when it stops being entertaining, or someone has to pay the consequences," he said.

As to whether it has any right to remove the videos, he said: “So can a video be taken down even if it does not have a single frame of copyrighted content?"

The information however is HBO’s and it is making use of YouTube’s frivolous rights system to lay claim on the content of the discussion which remains confidential until the show airs.

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