“There’s Really Nothing You Can Do About It”: HasanAbi Criticizes Ethan Klein Over Streamer Lawsuits

The tensions between the world of online political commentary exploded this week when popular Twitch streamer Hasan “HasanAbi” Piker decided to fire missiles at YouTuber Ethan Klein, due to Klein’s ever-increasing barrage of often-frivolous lawsuits against other creators on the platform.

During a June 26 Twitch stream, Piker lambasted Klein’s legal maneuvers as exploitative and representative of greater maladies in the American judicial system.

Streamer-on-Streamer Legal War

Copyright infringement lawsuits filed by Ethan Klein, best known for his H3H3 brand, has set a firestorm among three political streamers Denims, Morgan “Frogan,” and Kacey “Kaceytron.” All of these streamers are members of the same online streamer circles, and often share the same political alignment as Piker, so the criticism that they are all misappropriating Klein’s content is what is hanging over their heads.

As critics point out, these lawsuits are not really about protecting intellectual property as much as they are about retribution against those who speak out against you.Piker, who definitely has a history of publicly sparring with Klein mentioned, “When you're depraved and manic and insane, you don't care about wasting unlimited funds... You can be a vexatious litigant.”

Abusing the System?

While Piker did not go so far in a legal sense as to label the lawsuits as frivolous, he indicated that the suits constitute an abuse of structural power.

He supported a viewer’s comment saying that Klein is “abusing the system,” then continued to call the U.S. legal apparatus broken and rigged for rich people.“Given the way that our legal system works, given the way that our court system works, given the way that copyright works, there's really nothing you can do about it,” Piker said. “You basically hope that the [cyberstalkers] calm down.”His comments seemed to reflect a larger worry that copyright claims are being used as a weapon against, and to financially bankrupt, independent creators without legal artillery at their disposal.

Personal Vendetta or PR Stunt?

Piker suggested that Klein’s lawsuits are not so much about seeking justice as they are about creating a spectacle. 6, he speculated that this was perhaps a calculated move to create some clickbait online drama or even help revive Klein’s fading public profile.“It’s a last-ditch attempt,” he said, implying that Klein might be using litigation as a publicity tool.

So far, none of the accused streamers have issued formal responses, but community reaction has meted out pretty quick and in a divisive manner, to say the least. On one side, supporters of Klein’s actions praise the enforcement as long-needed protection of creator rights. Supporters aligning with Piker’s perspective disparage the lawsuits as a harmful new digital content precedent.No matter how the courtroom drama goes, the turf war between two of the web’s most aggressive political performers isn’t letting up any time soon.