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Look the internet is changing.
You don’t want some fancy douche in a suit putting a stick up your butt and using you
as a puppet do you?
YouTube has been about the individual for so long and now we’re at a cross roads.
If you don’t support felix swerbermengensen AKA pewdiepie he WILL lose the battle against
T series, but we will lose so much more.
Let me tell you about it...
From Call of Duty to Amnesia to Happy Wheels to lame and stupid Wall Street Journal Articles
to a couple n-bomb debacles to meme reviews that are as spicy as they are shameless, Felix
Kjellberg has dominated the YouTube corner of cyberspace for a long, long time...in terms
of subscribers.
But set to overtake our beloved and occasionally misguided Swede is a channel coming not from
the western world but rather...the east.
INDIA!
T-Series...an offshoot of Bollywood is gaining momentum and no doubt it’s here to stay.
Perhaps you’ve seen it...as you dipped your naan into lamb curry, poured yourself some
tea from a little pot and gazed upwards at a carefully placed TV to see the flurry of
smiling, dancing, flashy performers acting out something resembling a plot.
Did you know that India is the world’s largest producer of movies?
SUCK IT HOLLYWOOD.
The Indian version, “Bollywood” has been maximizing profit more steadily and efficiently
than the fake liberal, psychopathic hollywood executives ever could.
In centuries past, western culture has seeped into everything, but now...the east is seeping
back.
So PREPARE YOURSELF for the story of a future yet to be written.
For a 21st century dilemma unfolding across the globally interconnected supernetwork we
call the internet.
This is the story of memes and dreams threatened by the soul-less and poised to be given a
fatal blow by the misguided.
This is the story marked in time by PewdiePie and T-Series...the story...you never knew.
Why is T series gaining so much momentum?
It all has to do with Indian viewing habits.
Indians watch a lot of TV, like a lot a lot.
Like 836 million viewers a lot.
Do you realize how big of a number that is?
The US only has 304.5 million estimated viewers.
So take those numbers and then consider the fact that while we westerners have thousands
upon thousands of channels to watch, Indians only have a relatively small pool of channels
comparatively.
All these new eyeballs are being directed to only a small number of channels.
Also India is a developing country with a population over 1 billion people and only
now are more and more of them coming online.
As internet connections fire up from the other side of the world, eyes and ears from another
cultural perspective desire their own kind of entertainment.
The corporate machine of T-Series seeks to fulfill the desires of these newly plugged
in folks with professional quality uploads with questionable substance released every
day.
It’s no wonder T Series is destroying in views and subscribers.
But their overtaking of Pewds means much more than just the loss of the number one sub slot.
The meme master is representative of every self made creator on YouTube.
His fall from the top represents the failing of self made creators over the corporate machines.
But what of it?
Most are already aware of India’s growing influence on YouTube and it’s only natural
that a corporation would eventually overtake a single man and a couple editors named Brad.
Well, the passing of the top subscriber torch from meme-lord to big business is a haunting
reminder of the times we live in.
Where the internet once unquestionably empowered the individual, now that truth is becoming
more and more blurry.
T-series is welcome to the top spot but with more and more big business entities spreading
their profit-maximizing tendrils throughout the ecosystem that made so many dreams come
true, one has to wonder what happens next.
However, I’m not here to spread gloom and doom.
I’m here to present reality as it is and show that passion will always shine through
the cold, calculated business practices of those who just want your money.
Speaking of which, buy our shirts...please?
Pixelempire.com/treesicle.
We aren’t a massive corporation, also they’re super cool.
10% off with coupon code Treesicle.
If you’re nervous about the future, if you’re unsure about who's really in control, then
pop that xani, nibble at your fingernails, continue buying products from our corporate
overlords.
Yep.
Times they are a changin.
Not necessarily for the worst I might add.
While it’s true that big companies are becoming full-fledged in their understanding of the
power of websites like YouTube, Twitter, Tumblr, reddit, Instagram, and especially Bad Dragon,
that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Corporations (with their massive resources and polished marketing teams) have their place
in this world as do individuals with their own sparks of creativity.
It’s only natural that companies have begun to truly see the internet for the shining
light that it is.
Recall the T-series PewdiePie rivalry is of course amusing but it’s also something much
more important.
It’s a sign of the times.
A sign of the individual coming under threat by companies with work-forces and budgets
that can churn out more content than any dude in their home-office ever could.
Normally this wouldn’t be an issue as content made by small creators is often more original,
and more raw than that of a company that needs to turn a huge profit.
Big companies rarely want to be original because it’s risky.
The big wigs give us polished but predictable while the little..wigs give us raw and original.
Such is the balance of things...for now.
Perhaps you’ve heard something called Article 13.
Only a few paragraphs.
It effects Europe specifically and falls under the document titled “The European Union
Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market.”
Whether this was titled as boring as possible by design I don’t know but what’s in here
is very important.
It contains the laws and language for the “meme ban” that threatens Europe.
If you like your Waluigi memes or Let’s Plays or video game lore videos or anything
that uses any copyrighted footage or images at all in any way shape or form then this
should worry you.
This legislation has already passed the initial rounds of approval and is in the finalization
process.
In its current form, this would-be law threatens an important thing called Safe Harbor.
Safe harbor is the idea that if someone uploads an entire episode of Dragon Ball Z (for example)
to YouTube (which is obviously illegal) YouTube is only legally required to take this copyrighted
content down either via an automated system that detects it sooner rather than later OR
after the copyright holder files a takedown notice.
Maybe that sounds obvious and unimportant, but as things are, YouTube can’t be sued
for someone putting something illegal on their platform.
Only the uploader is liable.
BUT!
In Article 13...the insidious subsection of the “The European Union Directive on Copyright
in the Digital Single Market” is language which removes Safe Harbor altogether.
Normally this wouldn’t be a nail in the coffin but unfortunately laws in the EU are
already rather strict when it comes to copyrighted content.
In America we have a thing called “fair use” which you’ve likely heard of.
Really all it means is that anyone can use pieces of copyrighted work so long as it’s
transformative.
Again, uploading a full episode of a show isn’t transformative but cutting together
some clips, intersplicing your own footage while giving unique commentary is transformative...and
it’s exactly what we do on this channel.
Not to mention others like, Pewdiepie, Game Theory, Gnoggin, Gaijin Goombah, Mother’s
Basement, or y’know, pretty much every gaming/anime channel in existence.
In the EU there’s no such thing as fair use.
Just a thing called “permitted use” which basically says you can’t use any copyrighted
work without explicit permission from the copyright holder.
Obviously there are plenty of European channels who use copyrighted work in a transformative
way but it’s only thanks to Safe Harbor laws currently in place that allow these channels
to survive in a sort of legal grey area.
If Article 13 were to become law in its current form, Safe Harbor would be obliterated and
YouTube would be knee deep in lawsuits to the point where CEO Susan Wojcicki says,
“The proposal could force platforms, like YouTube, to allow only content from a small
number of large companies.
It would be too risky for platforms to host content from smaller original content creators,
because the platforms would now be directly liable for that content.”
If you live in the EU, I urge you to email your MEP, tweet at them, send them a letter,
and be cordial about it.
If the wording in article 13 isn’t changed to make platforms not liable for illegal uploads
beyond taking them down in a timely manner, you bet your butt Europe will be a meme-less,
commentary-less, digital desert.
Like Russia.
And once again, this will affect every website on the internet...not just YouTube.
Any image, video or otherwise that contains something copyrighted will be too risky for
any website to host.
And even if you don’t live in Europe, no doubt this will set a precedent for the corporate
fuarks of the world that will think “hey we can lobby the government so we can sue
websites for money and keep smaller creators from having a piece of the pie.”
And you better bet that the T-Series’ of the world will benefit from this.
They’re the ones that are pushing for it, because big corporations naturally have the
resources and desire to pump out the most “family friendly” content.
And they have the connections and money necessary to gain the trust of platforms like YouTube.
And because of this, the ‘homegrown creators’, the future Pewdses of the world, will have
an even harder time of bursting through.
After all the one’s pushing this terrible legislation through are one’s who already
have a massive audience: the music industry!
Did I mention the music industry is behind article 13?
Well they are because clearly those Vevo videos just aren’t getting enough views.
Perhaps most disturbing of all is that these potential changes were initially proposed
by the European Commission...a committee not elected by the people but rather appointed
by people already in power.
Fortunately this power is checked by The European Parliament...who unfortunately approved the
legislation on to the next step.
That’s not to say their minds can’t be changed because they certainly can...but whether
Europe would be in this position in the first place if citizens had the right to vote for
who was on the European Commission would be an interesting discussion.
All of this brings us back to original point of this video...is the internet gradually
moving into the hands of those with the most money?
A question easily represented by T-Series and PewdiePie duking it out.
The answer to that...depends on you.
Again, if you live in Europe, contact your MEP’s and persuade them as best you can
to change the wording of Article 13 to make websites not vulnerable to lawsuits for what
gets uploaded to their sites.
So long as they take down copyrighted and non-transformative content.
With the mind-boggling amounts of videos, images, and text uploaded to the internet
everyday, it’s clear this legislation is totally impractical for any kind of website
that lets anyone upload from anywhere.
Such a concept is a beautiful thing and it would be a tragedy for it to die because the
music industry (already bathing in money) is trying to lobby to make even more money.
What happens with the internet is up to you.
Even if article 13 doesn’t affect where you live, the idea of corporations overrunning
smaller channels is a big deal.
So next time you search for something trending, don’t watch the video with millions of views
or the one from a big corporation, scroll a little bit further to find a smaller channel
with (perhaps) a little more heart, a little more rawness who has something less calculated
and more authentic to say.
Don’t be the lowest common denominator...be someone who looks for texture over polish
because it really is that much more interesting.
PewdiePie is obviously here to stay, but his channel is representative of every other self
made channel on the platform.
If the top self made creator is losing to corporations, what chance to the rest of us
have?
Pewds’ battle with T-Series is a sign that the wild-west era of the internet is finally
coming to a close.
It’s in your hands who survives in this stricter, post-adpocalypse environment and
I hope you give the little guys a chance.
That’s the bigger picture of PewdiePie vs. T-Series.
The Story of big business looming over the horizon to threaten the individual.
Of bureaucrats nodding along to laws their citizens never asked for.
Pewdiepie is maintaining his top slot because of the support we’re all giving him.
If you believe in the creators you watch, if you want YouTube to be the home of people
both big and small, join this fight to show the world that we won’t back down just because
the cards are against us.
That’s the story of Pewdiepie and the symbolic loss that will happen unless you become part
of the change.
That’s the story of YouTube right now, the story you never knew.
Also subscribe to pewdiepie.
And...that’s my take on Pewds vs. T-Series.
Let me down below if I missed anything.
It’s fascinating stuff and I’m happy to throw my perspective into the ring.
And hey, if you’re looking to support smaller creators, check out our dope new merch!
For instance, our black sheep shirt.
Look we’re weird and you’re weird.
We go to you and you come to us.
That’s what this shirt is all about.
Use your peanut brain and think about it.
Now that I’ve insulted you go to pixelempire.com/treesicle and use code treesicle to get 10% off.
Links in the description.
I’m Grant, that’s all I’ve got for today and I’ll see you next time.
Bye!