Angry Pick-Up Artist Says He Won't Issue Bogus YouTube Claim On Critic's Video; Issues Bogus Claim On Critic's Video

from the proving-once-again-pickup-artists-are-not-to-be-trusted dept

Tue, Mar 6th 2018 10:59am — Tim Cushing

Another case of YouTube's copyright notification system being abused has filtered down through social media. A YouTuber whose channel specializes in game reviews was targeted by the developer of the game after some back-and-forth on the internet over his negative review.

Chris Hodgkinson reviewed a game called Super Seducer, which supposedly teaches dudes how to pick up women through the magical art of full-motion video. Call it "edutainment." (If you must…) The developer, Richard La Ruina, didn't care for his game being featured on a video series entitled "This is the Worst Game Ever." Nor did he care for Hodgkinson's suggestion the game offered nothing to men in the way of usable pick-up artistry.

“[La Ruina] criticized my idea that people should be themselves when they’re talking to women, which I think is probably the right thing to do,” Hodgkinson said. “He left a comment on my video when it had 150 views, which I thought was weird.”

The comment from LaRuina suggested shy men could not be themselves and still avail themselves of women, which is apparently their God-given right. This spilled over from YouTube onto Twitter. The discussion there surprisingly took a turn for the better, with LaRuina admitting he was overreacting to the YouTuber's "worst game ever" schtick. (LaRuina also stated he was "Europe's top pick-up artist," which he apparently considers an accolade rather than a slur. No authoritative studies or r/redpill polls were cited in support of this declaration.)

Everything seemed to have calmed down until some useful Twitterer expressed surprise the DMCA system hadn't been abused by someone on the receiving end of criticism. LaRuina responded with a tweet noting his "DMCA subscription" that he had apparently "forgotten about."

Lo and behold and completely expectedly, Hodgkinson's video was hit with a copyright claim from LaRuina. This is normal. This is the system the major labels/studios wanted: one that grants the accuser full credibility until proven otherwise, leaving the accused with minimal tools to fight bogus takedown requests that could see their channel removed and their source of income destroyed.

This incident, however, has plenty of weird to go with the YouTube DMCA normal.

Hodgkinson and La Ruina’s conversation on Twitter continued. La Ruina told Hodgkinson that the studio only issues DMCA takedowns to channels that rip off its content, essentially promising Hodgkinson that the team wouldn’t weaponize and abuse the DMCA takedown.

That all changed less than two days later. Hodgkinson received an email from La Ruina’s team apologizing for issuing a DMCA takedown request, way before Hodgkinson even knew that YouTube had accepted the strike.

Stranger still, LaRuina then sent Hodgkinson $50 via Paypal to cover any lost ad revenue while the video was removed. LaRuina still maintains he had nothing to do with the takedown, passing the buck to "the company."

“I didn’t know that he often makes those kinds of videos,” La Ruina told Polygon, speaking about Hodgkinson’s series. “He’s trying to profit with this type of clickbait-y, YouTube headline. All of that is okay, but when I replied to his tweet and we got into a little thing, he basically put me in a position where he said, ‘You wouldn’t dare DMCA me because you’re afraid of this,’ and I said, ‘No, I wouldn’t because it’s the wrong thing to do.’ And then someone in my company did it, we immediately retracted it and we’re waiting for the video to come back."

Which would be fine (but still stupid), but LaRuina just kept talking.

“So yeah, we did it for one video, but in general I don’t think that’s the right thing to do.”

This sounds like he was directly involved and that he did it because the YouTuber "dared" him to do it. None of these statements say much about "Europe's top pick-up artist" and the company he keeps at the company he runs.

But that's the lesson here: someone completely in the wrong can destroy the work, if not the livelihood, of someone in the right. Fair use was supposed to be one of the things YouTube would take into account when handling copyright claims, but so far, it seems to be limited to a very small select group of users. LaRuina may have retracted his claim, but it still killed Hodgkinson's video for a few days. Even if Hodgkinson doesn't rely on YouTube for his main source of income, it does supply him with money to purchase games to review. This bullshit move by LaRuina is nothing more than a bully targeting someone else's livelihood over some schticky criticism.

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Filed Under: censorship, chris hodgkinson, copyright, pick up artist, pua, richard la ruina, takedowns

31 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 6 Mar 2018 @ 11:16am

I come here for tech journalism, not Tim Cushing's opinion on pickup artistry.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Mar 2018 @ 11:23am

This sounds like he was directly involved and that he did it because the YouTuber "dared" him to do it.

Not convinced; If true, they wouldn't have immediately sent an apology check for $50...
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Mar 2018 @ 11:31am

Re:
I'm sure he's devastated.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Mar 2018 @ 11:36am

Pick up artist ... aka liar with an inferiority complex.
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Michael, 6 Mar 2018 @ 11:40am

I have not read all of the threads on Twitter, but it looks to me like the DMCA was not LaRuina and he is actually trying to do the right thing by compensating the guy and getting the takedown removed.

What gets me riled up is that the takedown takes seconds and YouTube responds, but for the party that issued the takedown to be unable to have it revoked just as quickly?
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Roger Strong (profile), 6 Mar 2018 @ 11:46am

Re:
Well, c'mon. *Anyone* might assume that you're using the name you post under here to introduce yourself when practicing pickup artistry.
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Dirkmaster (profile), 6 Mar 2018 @ 11:58am

Re:
And all you got out of this article was that Tim doesn't like pick up artists? Man, reading comprehension fail.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Mar 2018 @ 12:04pm

Re: Re:
What I got out of it is that any input Tim provides on this particular matter is tainted with unprofessionalism.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Mar 2018 @ 12:06pm

Re: Re:
<quote>The comment from LaRuina suggested shy men could not be themselves and still avail themselves of women, which is apparently their God-given right.</quote>

This sentence, in particular, calls into question his ability to treat the matter objectively.
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orbitalinsertion (profile), 6 Mar 2018 @ 12:08pm

Re: Re: Re:
All of your sentences pretty much demonstrate that you don't treat the matter objectively whatsoever.
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Toom1275 (profile), 6 Mar 2018 @ 12:32pm

The definitions of the terms "pickup artist" and "garbage man" should be swapped.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Mar 2018 @ 1:26pm

Re: Re: Re: Re:
A lazy "nou." How trite.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Mar 2018 @ 1:54pm

Re:
I came here for Tim Cushing's opinions, not your misogyny. So, we're even.
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Stephen T. Stone (profile), 6 Mar 2018 @ 2:12pm

Re: Re: Re:
Are you mad that someone called out a PUA for what he is, or are you mad that it describes you as well?
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Stephen T. Stone (profile), 6 Mar 2018 @ 2:13pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
It’s “NO U”—all caps, space before the U. You were too lazy to even get that right.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Mar 2018 @ 2:52pm

Re: Re: Re: Re:
You're mad because I'm criticizing one of your gods.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Mar 2018 @ 2:53pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
Zing.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Mar 2018 @ 3:04pm

"Europe's top pickup artist". translation: I know where the cheapest dirtiest prostitutes hang out and will do anything for 5 euros.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Mar 2018 @ 3:07pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
That's some wonderful projection you've got there.
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Mike Masnick (profile), 6 Mar 2018 @ 3:35pm

Re:
I come here for tech journalism, not Tim Cushing's opinion on pickup artistry.

You got my vote for "funny." Nice job.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Mar 2018 @ 5:07pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
"Wonderful projection." I sit in awe at your vapidity, you fucking cow.
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orbitalinsertion (profile), 6 Mar 2018 @ 5:31pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
Awwww. Did you hunt the mammoth?
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Mar 2018 @ 6:47pm

Re:

but for the party that issued the takedown to be unable to have it revoked just as quickly?

It depends on how big and important you are.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Mar 2018 @ 8:51pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
If that's some kind of inside joke, I'm not getting it.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Mar 2018 @ 8:52pm

Re: Re:
Thank god. Tough crowd.
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John Smith, 6 Mar 2018 @ 9:19pm

So all the media with men hitting on women in the offices are putting down men who hit on women socially. "Be yourself" doesn't mean anything, no one's going to give up sex if they figure out at a way to get it. That PUA can be learned doesn't make any specific PUA a good teacher though the game sounds interesting.

The best argument against PUA is that if the methods were so valuable, those who devise them wouldn't exchange them for status and money, which seems to work better, unless of course she's doing her boss as in #metoo.

MGTOW is the apex predator now.
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Stephen T. Stone (profile), 7 Mar 2018 @ 4:23am

Re:

The best argument against PUA is

…the people who tend to both practice and teach PUA tactics.
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Anonymous Coward, 7 Mar 2018 @ 5:27am

If the dude gets all worked up getting his game called "Worst Game Ever," I wonder what his reaction is Penny Arcade calling it toxic waste.
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Michael, 7 Mar 2018 @ 5:28am

Re: Re:
I just came here trying to pick up Tim Cushing.
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Anonymous Coward, 7 Mar 2018 @ 5:51am

Re: Re:
"Misogyny." That's a new one. Not entirely sure what I've said here that qualifies as "misogyny."
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Trails (profile), 7 Mar 2018 @ 9:37am

Conincidental?
I love it when Techdirt and Penny Arcade overlap:

https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2018/03/07
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