SSSniperWolf hits out at Instagram model over YouTube copyright claim

Connor Bennett

Popular YouTuber Lia ‘SSSniperWolf’ has hit out at Instagram model Niece Waidhofer after she filed a copyright claim on a video where the YouTuber used an image of her in the thumbnail. 

SSSniperWolf kicked off her YouTube channel in 2013 quickly gaining popularity for her Call of Duty gameplays where she would commentate over the action by telling stories from her past or what had happened to her recently.

In recent years, the British-born American content creator has pivoted away from gameplay videos and become more of a reaction channel – making videos on viral clips, images, and other things. However, one of her recent videos, the Reddit Roast Me challenge, was struck down due to a copyright strike.

Instagram: SSSniperWolf
SSSniperWolf has amassed close to 20 million subscribers on YouTube.

The strike in question came from Instagram model Niece Waidhofer, who posted an image of herself to the /r/roastme subreddit. She was featured in the thumbnail for SSSniperWolf’s video, claiming that her image had been altered to make her “uglier” and used as “clickbait.”

“For someone who says things in her videos like “this is why I hate girls,” this is a super bitchy thing to do,” Niece posted on her Instagram. “Flipping my photo horizontally and photoshopping my forehead bigger does not exempt you from copyright law, @sssniperwolf.”

In her post, the model showed off the thumbnail in question with a screenshot, while swiping to the right would reveal a video that showed how the YouTuber’s upload had disappeared thanks to her claim.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9DGA_ahxr8/

However, it wasn’t long before SSSniperWolf hit back, commenting on the model’s post about the claim she made by defending herself. 

“By posting your pic you ASKED to get roasted on Reddit, and you COPY STRIKE my video because it has your face in it,” Lia said, before making a fair use claim. “Your face and image is fair use. This is very pathetic and low.”

SSSniperWolf’s comment on Niece Waidhofer’s post about the copyright claim.

As of writing, the video is still available to be found on YouTube but anyone who tries to watch it will be met by a black screen that reveals Waidhofer’s copyright claim.

Whether or not the pair will be able to get things straightened out remains to be seen, but as of now, that seems unlikely.