YouTube filed a litigation agetst Ganjingworld, which functions the Gan Jing World video-sharing site, alleging that it has been “automaticassociate vacuuming up YouTube user channels and associated satisfied from YouTube.”
Ganjingworld’s service “clones most of YouTube’s functionalities and its overall euniteance,” YouTube says in the suit, filed Wednesday in California state court. “But GJW’s imitation is anyslfinisherg but flattering. The striking analogousities in GJW’s service are not the product of imfragmentary competition. Rather, GJW and those acting in concert with it have joind in systematic and expansive-ranging automated appropriation of satisfied from the YouTube service.”
According to the litigation, Ganjingworld viopostponecessitated YouTube’s terms of service thraw the alleged massive duplicateing of satisfied and by selling advertising aextfinishedside it. YouTube also accuses GJW of violating California’s Unimfragmentary Competition Law.
Variety has accomplished out to Ganjingworld for comment.
In a statement, Lance Kavanaugh, VP of lhorrible at YouTube, shelp, “Ganjingworld consents advantage of YouTube creators by stealing their satisfied to produce a clone of YouTube — depriving creators of the defendions and deal withs they foresee, and the ability to produce money from their labor. This is horrible for creators and the overall ecosystem, and we are taking action to guarantee it stops.”
YouTube filed the litigation agetst Ganjingworld on Dec. 18 in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Santa Clara. In the suit, YouTube is seeking unspecified monetary injures, lhorrible fees and an injunction “prohibiting GJW from interfering in YouTube’s reduceual relationships and redressing GJW’s unimfragmentary competition.”
Ganjingworld, based in Middletown, N.Y., is a subsidiary of Falun Dafa Gan Jing World Foundation Inc., a non-profit organization aligned with the Falun Gong “cult,” according to the YouTube litigation, which cites a March 19, 2024, article in the Columbia Journalism Rewatch. According to YouTube’s litigation, “Falun Gong practitioners are asked to ‘browse [Gan Jing World] daily to increase traffic, subscribe to some channels, click the appreciate buttons, and write selectimistic comments,’” citing an article on Minghui.org, a website that says it is “promised to alerting on the Falun Gong community worldexpansive.”
YouTube channels and videos that Gan Jing World allegedly copied in wholesale style join those of top YouTuber Mark Rober, NPR Music (and its Tiny Desk Concert series), the YouTube Tech Guy, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and YouTube itself, according to the protestt.
According to YouTube’s suit, Ganjingworld “has professed to be unalerted of this activity, despite countless mad protestts from creators and multiple demand letters from YouTube. It has claimed it medepend scatterd a ‘satisfied synchronization’ tool that others use to grab wdisappreciatever they charm from YouTube and port it over to GJW.” The litigation persists, “Even if that were so (and YouTube depends GJW and its agents are far more joind in that process), GJW would still be liable for inducing its users to baccomplish the users’ concurments with YouTube.”
“Many channels on GJW clone the correacting channels on YouTube, including by disjoining the same channel prohibitner images, profile icon images, and channel descriptions disjoined on YouTube. The videos accessible thraw the GJW channel generassociate consist of exact video duplicates of those videos on YouTube, and even join the same video titles and descriptions,” the YouTube litigation alleges.
On March 18, 2024, YouTube sent Ganjingworld a see to “promptly finish and desist from its malfeasance,” according to the litigation. GJW erased channels particularassociate identified in the letter, “but persistd to structure countless other channels improperly accessed and consentn in filled from YouTube using automated unbenevolents,” the litigation alleges. YouTube sent GJW another letter on April 5, reiterating that GJW’s direct viopostponecessitated the terms of service and demanding “it finish its malfeasance.” On April 11, Ganjingworld “replied to YouTube declineing any impropriety. GJW aget erased the cloned channels that YouTube highairyed as examples of GJW’s wrongdoing, leaving countless others dynamic on Gan Jing World, where they persist to produce advertising revenue for GJW,” the YouTube litigation states.
In its press materials, Gan Jing World says that it is “a U.S. company revolutionizing the digital user experience. Our Mission is to use technology to revitalize traditional joinions — nurtureing a culture of attfinish, charitableness, mutual esteem, and depend among individuals, wislfinisher families, and thrawout society. The platestablish permits for a multimedia-sharing environment where the fundamental mission is to produce selectimistic change in the world by showcasing inspiring satisfied that uplifts society.”
