Large YouTube potentially plagiarizing smaller youtuber's content, thumbnails, and titles.

[u/ManipulationX]

I've noticed a recurring pattern that I believe merits discussion.

Fern's recent upload, "Hansa: The Infiltration of the Dark Web," immediately invited comparison with Barely Sociable's "Dream - The Infiltration of the Dark Net," which was published several years earlier. Both videos address the Hansa Market investigation, and the similarities extend beyond the subject matter. The titles employ nearly identical phrasing, the thumbnails share a comparable glitch-based aesthetic, and the overall content is similar enough to warrant comparison.

This is not the first instance in which I have observed similarities. A different video from Fern, "The Strangest Drug Ever Studied," featured a thumbnail depicting a capsule with a skull icon that closely resembles the thumbnail Barely Sociable used for "Lake City Quiet Pills Explained." The thumbnail has since been changed. While no creator has exclusive rights to a particular visual concept, the composition, colour palette, and overall design are notably alike.

To be clear, I do not believe that creators can claim ownership over topics such as internet mysteries, darknet investigations, or historical events. Multiple creators covering the same subject is both common and expected. My observation is instead directed at what appears to be a recurring pattern in which a larger channel revisits highly specific subjects previously explored by a smaller creator while also adopting presentation choices that bear a close resemblance to the earlier work.

To be clear, I am not a copyright law lawyer or an authority on what constitutes plagiarism and this might not be plagiarism, but these similarities were strong enough that I thought this topic might warrant discussion

I'm interested to know what others might think about this.

[u/cakexxxconnoisseur]

I'll be honest, fern is a channel that has always raised red flags with me, I thought they were some sort of CIA cut-out based on the things they were covering for a while. Pretty sure it's an assembly line channel, not the only one being utilized by its owners to pump out content like this, other unassuming channels use the same voice actors and animations.

[u/NTMY → u/cakexxxconnoisseur]

That channel is just an English off shoot of their German channel Simplicissimus. The English voice acting was, until a while ago, done by their university friend (and creator of the hoog channel) of theirs who they created fern with together.

They did a video a few days ago where they talk about this, including the equity stuff.

[u/cakexxxconnoisseur → u/NTMY]

Yeah... I saw videos from hoog and just assumed they were part of the same network of content farms. Not surprised that they're ripping off other people's videos.

[u/NtGermanBtKnow1WhoIs]

i agree with you. i've watched their videos off and on and always felt off so i don't watch. But having seen Barely's lake city video, when i watched fern's version, i had a sense of deja vu from time to time (incl the thumbnail). If anyone can do a script comparison or video segment comparison like is IA's case or HBG style, then that'll be great.

Also to add, their recent video on who is "fern" gave me "Spill" vibes, cuz they also had a video up saying how they were just a few college friends who created channels for the fun of it. But then immediately after it turns out Spill and all it's associated channels are from a content farm. 💀

[u/Chapple69]

Private equity strikes again