Projekt Melody · @ProjektMelody
5th Nov 2020 from TwitLonger
my twitch ban + struggles with digitrevx
Many of you probably are wondering about the recent Twitch ban, so I wanted to share some context about my Twitch Ban since it relates to an issue I’ve been dealing with the last several months.
A 3D modeler (DigitrevX) filed DMCA takedowns on all of my VODs, claiming he owns the copyright to my body. He had also been posting about this on twitter for weeks as well, but since I try to avoid drama, I’ve ignored it (it’s been hard). Given that he is now trying to get me de-platformed, he has escalated the issue and now I have to make a response, publicly, which includes providing all of the relevant receipts.
First, here is the DMCA takedown showing that digi filed it.
https://imgur.com/a/UVif8pZ
Second, here is the invoice he sent me (sections blacked out to protect private info). The price quote was $5,000 for my entire body and design. Next to that you will see the paypal invoices paid to him for that exact amount. To make sure we were in agreement regarding my ownership of the IP, I messaged him about it beforehand, and he agreed that I would own all of the IP, not him. That message is also included below.
https://imgur.com/a/nnSmSPu
https://imgur.com/a/s4T4UPD
https://imgur.com/a/XV97p06
https://imgur.com/a/60jRSiU
At some point he asked if I would be interested in a partnership deal with his company, Giga Music Group. I was interested in hearing about the deal, but at that point I hadn’t agreed to anything, only that I’d like to hear what they had to offer. Over the next few months, he still continued to help me with things, but refused compensation for it. Even though I offered to pay him often, he said it wasn’t a big deal each time.
Here are some examples:
https://imgur.com/a/WFGh5dI
Around May, Giga Music Group finally sent me their proposed offer. They wanted $40,000 a month for their services.
Because I was advised by others in the industry to not take the deal given that it was grossly inflated and offered unnecessary services, I opted to work with another company. He then started claiming that because of the work he had already done, that I was expected to work with them. I told him he should have let me know that, since I would have insisted I either pay him, or not have him do the work at all. Even though I would never agree to a contract when I have no idea what the terms of it are, I did offer to pay him for all the work that he felt he wasn’t compensated for. This included telling him to send me a reasonable invoice and I’d pay it. (shown above) Instead, he decided to dm me to insult me and call me unprofessional. This was 6 months ago, and still he continues to say I haven’t paid him, and has yet to send me an invoice.
Once there was that falling out, I didn’t hear from digi for several months, and I thought that was the end of it. He went on to launch YFU, and I was glad he was off doing his own thing. Then, in August, he wrote to me again, insisting that I needed to follow and interact with YFU (his company’s idol project character) because I “owed” him. I told him that because our working relationship ended so poorly, I didn’t feel comfortable interacting with his new project, but I wished him the best of luck. He did not take that well, again insisted that I owed him for the work he did, and vaguely threatened to ‘talk to VICE,” because I don’t seem to “understand him.”
Finally, he offered to drop all of it, stop claiming that I never paid him, and leave me alone, if I boosted YFU.
I was very upset, but in the interest of just getting it all behind me and being done with him, I swallowed my pride and agreed. This was on the condition that he 1) leave me alone and 2) sign a document making it clear that I own everything he kept claiming that I didn’t (although I had the invoice and text confirmations, it was more for making it clear to him). I wanted this done and over with, so I could focus on streaming and making content and all of the time consuming projects I still have in the works.
https://imgur.com/a/rwFRPHp
A few days after I offered that, he responded, telling me it was a terrible offer for him to sign a document saying the extra things he made me were mine (despite them being ‘gifts’), in exchange for interacting with his new project. He then demanded $45,000 along with 25% of merch sales, even though by this point, I had stopped using all of the assets he made (although I owned them, they were reminders of the leverage he thought he had over me).
That’s what happened to T0M, since so many people have wondered about his whereabouts.
After this message I stopped responding to digi. He was rude, insulting, and I was done with his harassment. He still continued to publicly slander me on twitter and discord daily, even today. He hasn’t stopped. I finally blocked him after he kept saying shitty things about me, and now he has resorted to trying to de-platform me, starting with twitch.
I didn’t want to be involved in drama. I wanted to continue streaming and having fun with my friends and my community. I’m lucky enough to have a career that I absolutely love with supportive and redonkulous friends, and he is trying to take all that away, even though I paid him for my body. That’s what the DMCA claim is for, by the way. Not the T0Ms, not one of my CB toys, not music, not for being too explicit (I’ve been good on twitch).... But no, because digi thinks he owns me.
He thinks this, even after I paid him for it, as you can see in those invoices, even though back on December 5th, 2019, at 3:42pm, he agreed, that I OWN THE IP, HE’S JUST THE CHARACTER DESIGNER/MODELER.
That’s what he’s copyright striking me on.
I’m really sorry I kept this from all of you for so long. I’ve been dealing with it for months, and it’s given me endless stress which made me cancel streams some days because I was too shaky from the anxiety.
I never want to hide things from you guys and I try to be transparent (unless it’s a cool thing I wanna announce), but in this situation, I kept expecting it to resolve itself since the initial claim had no merit. It was also kind of embarrassing since I didn’t want to announce to the world, “hey, someone i hired to make something for me is harassing me and demanding more money.”
I am not looking for more drama, I just want him to leave me alone so I can focus on my channel and community and save my stress for the cool projects I’ll continue to do in the future and probably can’t handle on my own. >.<