Virtual YouTuber agency sues netizens for online slander of characters
We all know that celebrities, especially female celebrities, often face abuse online. But does that extend to virtual celebrities like VTubers?
Virtual Entertainment, the operator of the VTuber agency VSPO!, updated its website on April 10, giving its response to defamation and other actions against its affiliated talent.
Just because the characters are virtual and so don’t have “feelings,” the copyright holders are not going to stand idly by while netizens defame their creations.
Regarding the character Nazuna Kaga (pictured), the agency announced, “We have identified the person who engaged in defamation and slander by name, unfairly damaging her social reputation and infringing upon her personal dignity, through a request for disclosure of sender information via court.”
They explained, “We conducted negotiations with the identified individual, but as we were unable to obtain a sufficient apology or settlement offer, we terminated those negotiations and filed a lawsuit for damages with the Tokyo District Court, and we have now obtained a favorable judgment.”
In this particular case, while acknowledging that “instead of directly using defamatory language, phonetic substitutions were employed,” they cautioned that “if the target of the defamation can be identified or the content of the defamatory post can be reasonably inferred from the context, surrounding posts, and hashtags, then naturally, the person who posted it cannot avoid responsibility.”
Trolling and defamatory posts often substitute or censor words in an attempt to avoid legal action, but VSPO! shows that it can still take people to court. The agency has a zero-tolerance policy regarding defamation, stalking, and other aggressive forms of behavior, going so far as to set up a Defamation Countermeasures Committee.
It is simultaneously pursuing multiple lawsuits and negotiations against posters, site operators, providers, and platform operators regarding several similar cases and copyright infringement cases involving sexually explicit illustrations.
“We will continue to pursue similar legal proceedings and claims for damages (including criminal proceedings in some cases) in the future. We have already identified individuals in several cases and are currently pursuing out-of-court and in-court claims for damages.”
VSPO! describes itself as “a Next-Gen Virtual-esports Project dedicated to inspiring our fans by embracing new challenges through the universal languages of video games and esports. Our VTubers participate in a diverse range of activities, including streaming, esports tournaments, collaborations with anime and other cultural media.”
