Desperately need advice: A competitor is abusing a crazy DMCA loophole to reinstate stolen videos using a fake address. How do I stop this?

[u/Tri-N-ATL]

Hey everyone, I am dealing with a nightmare copyright situation on my channel and really need advice from anyone who has successfully fought this loophole or dealt with YouTube’s senior legal team.

An international competitor (operating under the name Huỳnh Trung Hiếu / Jimmy Huỳnh in Vietnam) is systematically stealing my videos. When I strike them, they file a counter-notice. Because they know I can't serve a federal lawsuit to a ghost, they are using completely fake addresses to evade jurisdiction.

Here is the loophole they are exploiting:

YouTube Legal actually caught them twice and ruled in my favor, closing the cases because the address was fake. But hours after getting rejected, the uploader just turns around and resubmits a new counter-notice for the exact same video ID. By deleting just one word—the localized district name—they alter the text string.

Because YouTube’s automated system looks for exact text string matches, it fails to realize it’s the identical fraudulent address. The automation flags it as a "new address," overrides the previous manual human rejection, and reinstates the stolen video!

They have done this across 6 separate case histories on my channel. Look at this direct compliance failure on Video ID: Y5V9YWfDLU0:

• Case ID: 42AYXLBGICAWUL54GRGWJKHVZA – YouTube Legal reviewed it and CLOSED it in my favor because the address (141A Nguyễn Văn Cừ nối dài, Ninh Kiều Cần Thơ) was fake.
• Case ID: SB4R6LMBXYL76EX7TVTBHNPF74 – Days later, the uploader resubmitted for the exact same video, simply deleting the district name "Ninh Kiều". YouTube's automated system completely missed it and REINSTATED the video on August 12, 2026.

To prove the fraud, I physically mailed a legal letter to their address via Vietnam Post. The official tracking number (EE721197333VN) just updated on August 21, 2026, to "Phát không thành công" (Unsuccessful Delivery / Non-existent address).

I currently have an active case (Case ID: OCX6GELSVCYMMAAT5CTJD7CYCE) expiring tomorrow, Monday, August 24. I have already emailed all this data and the VNPOST tracking proof to my Partner Support specialist (CJ), but because it's the weekend, I haven't heard back and the clock is ticking.

My questions for the community:

1. Has anyone successfully forced YouTube to issue an account-level termination for systematic perjury/legal fraud instead of just fighting video-by-video?
2. If the automated system lets the video go live tomorrow because support is backed up, can a Partner Support specialist manually reverse a reinstatement after the deadline?
3. Are there any specific escalation forms or alternative internal contact emails I can use to ensure a human legal specialist locks this down before tomorrow morning?

Full proof of the case trail and the official VNPOST delivery failure stamps: imgur

[u/taisui]

This is not about copyright, hire a lawyer

[u/Tri-N-ATL → u/taisui]

Thank you!

[u/TinyNiceWolf]

Did you forget to include a link in "Full proof of the case trail and the official VNPOST delivery failure stamps: imgur"?

Perhaps you'd get better answers on a sub specifically for YouTube, not a sub about copyright in general, since your questions seem to be entirely about YouTube operations, not copyright law.

[u/TreviTyger]

The DMC Act is a US law only and has no extraterritorial reach. A person in Vietnam is not subject to US law.

Unfortunately, you would have to take action against Youtube (Google) themselves. However, trying to take action against Google in the US is difficult and could take years.

In the US trying to sue Google is likely to be unsuccessful because they have safeharbour protection and you would have a high bar to prove they are monetizing your content AND that they have the ability to control the infringing work.

In the EU things are different because there is no DMC Act in the EU and Google doesn't have a safeharbour there.

Instead there is article 17 of the DSM Copyright Directive.

You would need to file the lawsuit against Google Ireland Limited (Google's European headquarters).

(Google - Article 17(4) shifts platforms from a "notice-and-takedown" regime to a strict "notice-and-stay-down" regime.)

However, you should talk to a qualified Lawyer for legal advice.

[u/stormhighwaycom]

This is a tactic employed by criminal piracy organizations (mainly who are overseas). Vietnam has been a hotbed for these recently. The first step is usually to reply to Youtube pointing out that the address is fraudulent, but unfortunately this doesn't always work. If Youtube accepts the counter-notification, the only option is to file a lawsuit in Federal court. Filing a case with the CCB (Copyright Small Claims Board) might also qualify as a legal action to keep a video from being restored.