Popular VTuber Ironmouse has had her main YouTube channel—containing hundreds of recorded videos and songs—taken down today without warning by the video streaming platform, supposedly due to multiple copyright strikes on an affiliated channel that was removed a little over a week ago.
The streamer’s VOD channel on YouTube was removed on Sept. 9 after it received back-to-back-to-back copyright strikes—something Ironmouse was made aware of at the time. “It’s going to get deleted because I don’t want to dispute it because I don’t want to submit my personal information to whoever it is,” she said during a stream shortly before the takedown. Now, as a result of the VOD channel termination, YouTube has made the connection between it and Ironmouse’s main account and terminated it too as it is an “affiliated” channel.
“Incredibly sad and shocked that my main YouTube channel has been terminated,” Ironmouse said on X/Twitter today after the channel was taken down. Visiting Ironmouse’s YouTube channel now displays a default 404 page with the message “This page isn’t available” displayed front and center.
Ironmouse added that she has enlisted a legal team to work on recovering the channel, with VTuber talent company VShojo also investigating the matter in the hopes the main account can be restored.
Google and YouTube’s explainer for channel termination outlines why Ironmouse’s main channel was also taken down, stating a user who has had a channel taken down cannot circumvent the termination by uploading on another channel. “This applies to all of your existing channels, any new channels you create or acquire, and any channels in which you are repeatedly or prominently featured,” the page says.
Ironmouse is one of the biggest names in the streaming world, let alone the VTuber community, and prior to the channel’s disappearance, her YouTube channel had a massive 1.14 million subscribers. The Streamer of the Year nominee is also in the midst of a month-long subathon on Twitch—something fans had been following both live and through her VOD channel until its shutdown two weeks ago.
Many fans have cried out in support of the VTuber, turning their rage to YouTube over a “shitty” system that allows “copyright trolls” to hold giant channels like Ironmouse’s hostage for the streamer’s personal information. “What the fuck is even going on at YouTube where major creators can get disappeared with no warning? Do they want a competitor to finally get a foot in the door?” one fan said.
Ironmouse is far from the first big streamer to cop a channel termination on YouTube, with the likes of xQc and Amouranth also losing their channels in the past—and also without prior warning or reason from the site.
YouTube has yet to publicly comment on Ironmouse’s channel removal, while her lawyers continue to investigate the matter.
Update at 1:50pm CT on Sept. 23: Ironmouse has said her YouTube channel has been reinstated and that she is “happy to be back.”
Published: Sep 20, 2024 11:44 pm