Plagiarism and You(Tube)
| Video Essay | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Plagiarism and You(Tube) |
| Creator: | hbomberguy |
| Date(s): | December 2, 2023 |
| Medium: | Digital video, YouTube |
| Length: | 3 hours 51 minutes |
| Footage: | Various |
| Fandom: | Queer Fandom, BreadTube |
| Topic: | Plagiarism, James Somerton |
| External Links: | Video on YouTube |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Plagiarism and You(Tube) is a video essay by YouTuber and media critic hbomberguy about plagiarism on YouTube. After nearly two hours of dissecting and explaining several examples of plagiarism on the platform, hbomberguy reveals that the true subject of the video is fellow queer YouTuber James Somerton, who he alleges has plagiarized countless authors, YouTubers, and other creators—most of whom are queer or otherwise marginalized—in order to make money from his own video essays.
Among the many other plagiarized sources, the video shows that James Somerton stole footage from a Legend of Korra AMV by MoonFlower_art titled (Wuko) Crush (Mako x Wu).
Plagiarism and You(Tube) kicked off the James Somerton Plagiarism Scandal and has been hotly discussed and memed among queer fans.
The Video
This article or section needs expansion. |
Some Topics Discussed
- Ubiquity of plagiarism on YouTube
- What motivates plagiarism
- YouTube content mills
- How plagiarists attempt to disguise their theft
- Specific plagiarists: Filip Miucin, Cinemassacre, Iilluminaughtii, Internet Historian
- James Somerton's many, many plagiarized videos
- Somerton's misogyny
- Somerton's alleged financial manipulation of his fans
- Does Somerton's co-writer know about the plagiarism?
- The costs of plagiarism and why it matters
Structure
The nearly four-hour-long video is broken into 19 chapters:
| Chapter Title | Timestamp | Main Topic of Discussion |
|---|---|---|
| Intro | 0:00:00 | Plagiarism on YouTube |
| Filip | 0:05:09 | Filip Miucin |
| Cinemassacre | 0:27:57 | Cinemassacre |
| Iilluminaughtii | 0:42:59 | Iilluminaughtii |
| YouTube Content Mills | 1:04:06 | |
| The LegalEagle Debacle | 1:11:41 | |
| Cave Story | 1:25:34 | Internet Historian |
| The Twist You Expected | 1:49:59 | James Somerton |
| The Celluloid Closet | 2:15:11 | |
| It Got Worse | 2:21:57 | |
| HE'S STILL DOING IT | 2:34:24 | |
| Shouldn't Need To Do This | 2:41:49 | |
| Attack on Attack on Titan | 2:50:31 | |
| Does He Know? | 2:58:15 | |
| He Started A Film Studio | 3:04:45 | |
| The Nightmare | 3:09:14 | |
| Turnabout Summertime | 3:17:00 | |
| The Cost | 3:20:01 | |
| Conclusion | 3:29:47 |
Discussion and Response
This article or section needs expansion. |
Fan Responses
Memes and Jokes
A number of memes emerged in the aftermath of the video. Some, like book--wyrm's Hydrogen Bomb vs Coughing Baby edit,[1] poked fun at James Somerton, while others, like bloodybellycomb's take on Wow Cool Robot,[2] satirized other people's reactions to the video.
References
- ^ book--wyrm (Dec 3, 2023): H Bomb vs Plagiarizing Baby. Tumblr post. (archive link)
- ^ bloodybellycomb (Dec 4, 2023): Wow Cool Robot meme. Tumblr post. (archive link)