Borderlands YouTuber SupMatto revealed he was a victim of a copyright investigation by 2K and Take-Two Interactive. 2K accused the YouTuber of leaking Borderlands 3 details on his channel, which infringed the company’s copyrights, and noted that some of his actions were even illegal. As it turns out, this investigation dated back to 2018, when SupMatto first began publishing Borderlands 3 leak videos on his channel.
During SupMatto’s video, he stated that he was visited by two private investigators who questioned him about his Borderlands 3 content.
SupMatto explained:
I don’t feel like I have anything to hide. They questioned me about various things relating to my channel, the livestream that was discussed on my channel… and they told me they were from Take-Two Interactive.
Although, later on, he did admit, “Since I’ve had time to reflect on the situation, I’d say excitement got the better of my judgment.”
SupMatto’s Borderlands 3 videos often focused on speculation or leaks, with information that he had acquired from unnamed sources. As it turns out, much of what he leaked on his channel was accurate, like information about the game’s new playable characters, weapons, and even the Borderlands 2 DLC that was released during E3 2019.
A 2K representative told IGN:
Take Two and 2K take the security and confidentiality of trade secrets very seriously. The action we’ve taken is the result of a 10-month investigation and a history of this creator profiting from breaking our policies, leaking confidential information about our product, and infringing our copyright.
One of the issues in question was SupMatto’s usage of Borderlands 3 thumbnails that originated from a private Twitch account that was being used to test the ECHOCast extension. The thumbnails violated copyright agreements from 2K, although the YouTuber believed they were for public use. Fans were also able to datamine this extension to find more Borderlands 3 information, which SupMatto reported on through his channel. Again, the information gathered through the datamine turned out to be accurate.
SupMatto defended himself by saying:
It’s not some crafty work-around. On April 29th, the official Borderlands YouTube channel posted the reveal of the Twitch extension leading into the gameplay reveal… and the name of the testing accounts were exposed in that video. This wasn’t found by me.
In response to this, 2K stated:
The information he’s sharing about the situation is incomplete, and in some cases untrue. Not only were many of his actions illegal, but they were negatively impacting the experience of other content creators and our fans in anticipation for the game.
We will take the necessary actions to defend against leaks and infringement of our intellectual property that not only potentially impact our business and partners, but more importantly may negatively impact the experiences of our fans and customers.
SupMatto has deleted most of his Borderlands 3 videos that contained leaked details. In addition, his Discord channel was shut down. “Your account was involved in selling, promoting, or distributing cheats, hacks, or cracked accounts,” Discord told him. Many of the YouTuber’s community utilized the Discord channel, which was allegedly home to more Borderlands 3 leaks.
It’s unclear what the future will hold for SupMatto, as the investigation is still unfolding. We’ll keep you updated as more information becomes available.
[Source: IGN]
