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Since joining the platform in 2013, SSSniperwolf, whose legal name is Alia Shelesh, has amassed over 34 million subscribers. Her specialty is reaction material, in which she watches other viral videos and TikToks and reacts to them live on camera.
Recently, there has been debate among creators over whether reaction videos could be considered stolen property. Shelesh is at the forefront of this controversy since she manages one of YouTube’s most popular reaction channels.
Piracy on YouTube
In July, YouTuber Jack Douglass, also known as Jacksfilms, accused Shelesh of freebooting in an 11-minute video. Freebooting is a type of piracy in which someone re-uploads a video that they did not create and do not own the rights to.
Douglass said that Shelesh or someone on Shelesh’s staff made the majority of her estimated $16 million net worth by downloading viral TikToks and modifying them into her videos without credit. As a result, she receives all of the revenue, but the original creators do not.
“Her commentary isn’t so much transformative as it is just summarizing what we’re watching,” Douglass explains in the video. “It’s not even content, it’s ‘nontent.'”
In some of the back-and-forth on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, between Shelesh and Douglass in response to his video, Shelesh defended her work, saying, “90% of what I upload are my ideas, people copy me, and then people like you get confused.”
Bring in the lawsuit
Young stated in the lawsuit that he had been selecting and scripting Shelesh’s work for years. He called the SSSniperwolf channel a “joint venture” and claimed that when they created the YouTube account, they used a combination of personal information from the two of them.
“While Shelesh was the ‘face’ of the ‘SSSniperwolf’ YouTube channel, Young is and was at all times heavily involved in the creative content and operations,” according to documents filed with the court, “including but not limited to concept origination and development, script writing, directing, video editing, posting finished videos to the channel and market research and analysis, among other things.”
A few of YouTubers, including creator Atozy, who creates “talk-show-style” videos about internet culture events, have recapped the lawsuit.
Young claims in his current lawsuit that “the gameplay footage… was played and recorded by Young while Shelesh merely read and reacted to the gameplay.”
With how involved Young claims he was in establishing and maintaining the SSSniperwolf brand, the lawsuit is primarily about money. He stated he and Shelesh agreed in 2013 to split ad money from their channels 50-50 and continued to do so until September 2022, when they split apart.
“Following the termination of the romantic relationship, Shelesh began actively taking steps to lock Young out of their business relationship,” according to the complaint. It goes on to accuse Shelesh and brand manager Kevin Gold of engaging in other commercial ventures and creating additional YouTube channels.
Sssniperwolf’s response
In an unusual move, SSSniperWolf’s legal team included in the lawsuit document a statement that said, “The Moon revolves around the Earth.” “The legs of a chicken are four.” This seemingly unusual inclusion was intended to highlight the lack of merit in the claims made against her.
SSSniperWolf and her legal team requested that the action be dismissed, claiming that the issues at hand had already been examined in family court during divorce proceedings.
She said that her spouse should have discussed the matter with her first before taking legal action. The defense argued that there was insufficient proof or evidence to substantiate the claims.
Courts final decision
Despite SSSniperWolf’s robust denial and dismissal request, the court found in her favor, claiming that the charges were separate and linked to contractual responsibilities and breaches.
The ruling represents a legal blow for the popular YouTuber, raising concerns about the consequences for her ongoing legal challenges.
The court’s decision means that SSSniperWolf has officially lost her lawsuit against her estranged husband. The ruling opens the door to more legal ramifications and raises questions about the case’s future developments.
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