By Steffanie Martinez |Staff Writer|
The Fine brothers are famously known for their react content; where kids, teens, and elders react to music, artists, nostalgic artifacts, and pop culture.
Due to the popularity of their series the Fines felt confident enough about making an announcement that shook up the Internet community.
Their plan was to license “React World,” a deal that would allow viewers to use their logos and formats to create their own versions of reaction videos. They also promised to give guidance and promotion to the creator.
In reality, with this deal, the person who makes the video would actually be giving the Fines promotion and money, not the other way around like they are making it seem.
While it sounds like a good business deal from the perspective of a viewer, they are taking from those who already give to them.
Why must you be accredited for content that was not initially produced by you in the first place?
It seems pretentious for them to think that they could license something as broad as a reaction format.
Certainly, they were not the first to come up with this type of video.
The lack of detail in their announcement made the situation even worse.
Rumors quickly spread that they had plans of trademarking the word “react.” This caused the most backlash throughout the Internet community.
Especially considering that in the past the Fines, with the help of YouTube, have taken down videos that they felt were mocking them.
If they felt entitled to make that move now when they have no rights to the react format, it is safe to say that they would go after not only these big companies, but start-up content creators once the licensing went through.
To the brothers, this felt as if it could be a revolutionary move for the YouTube community; clearly, not many others agreed.
Although their intentions might have been sincere, they do not seem to have taken into consideration that YouTube is the place where people go to be able to share content they create without the rules of a big industry.
Seems as if the Fines think they are becoming too big for YouTube rules.
This is the same platform that brought them their success, so why not give others the chance to produce whatever content they feel without having to worry about legal repercussions.
If anything they should feel humbled that their type of videos have inspired others to create videos similar to theirs.
Regardless, their millions of followers have remained loyal to them throughout the years.
Do not bite the hands that feed you; especially when their loyalty and views are accumulating you millions of dollars yearly.
Days after the announcement and continuous backlash, the brothers made a video apologizing.
They announced they would not be going through with the licensing program, trying to make their intentions clear.
Yet the damage was already done, according to Social Blade, a website that allows users to track statistics and measure growth across multiple social media platforms, their YouTube channel has lost 368,113 subscribers in the past 30 days.
As a fan of their content, I will continue watching their videos, hoping they will make better decisions in regard to expanding their brand in the future.
Although, the issue seemed bigger than the Fine Brothers. It was not about whether they would have taken down others content, but that they could obtain the power to do so.
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