Episode 2 of 'Fire Baseball' has been deleted due to a copyright infringement complaint from JTBC.
On the morning of the 21st, Episode 2 of the baseball entertainment program 'Fire Baseball' from Studio C1 was deleted from the official YouTube channel. When accessing the link, a message appears stating, "This video is no longer available due to a copyright infringement complaint by JTBC, JTBC Central Corporation, and Studio Aye Central Corporation."
In relation to this, Studio C1 stated to Maeil Business Star Today, "We have confirmed that the video has been deleted," and added, "We have also filed a counterclaim regarding Episode 2 with YouTube. We are waiting for a response."
Earlier, on the morning of the 17th, Episode 1 of 'Fire Baseball' was also deleted due to a copyright infringement complaint from JTBC.
At that time, Studio C1 explained through the YouTube channel bulletin board, "On the morning of May 17, Episode 1 of 'Fire Baseball' on the Studio C1 YouTube channel was temporarily suspended due to a copyright infringement complaint," and added, "We immediately filed an objection, and it will take about 1 to 2 days, or up to 10 days, for the video to be republished due to YouTube's system."
They also criticized, "This matter was unilaterally carried out through a simple copyright infringement complaint system, not through legal procedures like a 'preliminary injunction.' This is a typical case of abuse of the copyright system that can block video viewing without a clear legal judgment."
Despite this situation, the popularity of 'Fire Baseball' remains undiminished. Episode 3, released on the afternoon of the 19th, surpassed 2.41 million views as of 10 AM on the 21st.
Meanwhile, Studio C1 is in conflict with JTBC, which produced the 'Strongest Baseball' series. 'Strongest Baseball' is a program produced by Studio C1, led by PD Jang Si-won, featuring retired professional baseball legends competing against national baseball teams, from Season 1 in 2022 to Season 3.
JTBC has raised suspicions of duplicate and excessive billing of production costs by Studio C1, claiming, "C1 has excessively billed production costs by hundreds of millions to billions of won and is infringing on the IP rights of Strongest Baseball by proceeding with the production of Season 4."
In response, C1 stated, "The production costs are not subject to post-billing or actual expense settlement, so excessive billing is structurally impossible. JTBC's copyright is limited to the footage from Season 3," arguing that this is an attempt to seize intellectual property rights.
Currently, both parties are in a legal dispute over the program. JTBC has filed a lawsuit claiming that C1 unlawfully deleted 'Strongest Baseball' related files stored on the JTBC server after the program production contract ended, citing destruction of electronic records and obstruction of business.
[Kim So-yeon, Star Today Reporter]
