YouTube Takes Down “Power/Rangers” Fan Film, But It’s On Facebook

An exciting fan film has been pulled from YouTube, but luckily for those who would still like to view it, it is still available elsewhere. Power/Rangers, a dark, gritty version of its titular franchise, has been removed from YouTube after a copyright claim by Saban Brands, though a Facebook version of the video remains active.

Power/Rangers, directed by Joseph Kahn and produced by Adi Shankar, arrived on YouTube on February 24th and rolled up millions of views within a few hours. Almost immediately, Saban Brands, which owns the rights to Power Rangers and is planning a feature film reboot of the franchise alongside Lionsgate, complained about potential copyright infringement. On Vimeo, a NSFW version of the short was quickly removed, and the YouTube version came under fire as well. Kahn urged viewers to check out the film while they still could, and he noted he had “no idea how long it’ll be up.”

On February 26th, TheWrap reported that Power/Rangers had been pulled from YouTube. When Vimeo took down its version of the video, it noted how it was legally obligated to comply with takedown notices from rights holders. YouTube, which must comply with the same law, was also forced to respect Saban’s request, though a counter-takedown claim could eventually restore Power/Rangers to YouTube.

At the same time, Shankar has little incentive to chase a counter-claim, since fans can still watch the video on Facebook. That version has already received 162,000 views, and it will surely register many more in the coming days.

Shankar has offered the following statement in response to the takedown:

Today, I was deeply disappointed to learn that Saban Brands decided to attack my Power/Rangers “Bootleg Universe One-Shot” film.  To all the viewers that enjoyed this film, I consider this an outright infringement on freedom of expression and individualism. I set out to make this film because I am a childhood fan of the Power Rangers. As children our retinas are burned with iconic images and as we grow older these images come to represent crucial moments within the trajectories of our own lives.  This film is a homage to the original creators of the Power Rangers, and a parody of a television series we all grew up loving. Films like my Power/Rangers “Bootleg” are vital expressions of creativity in our troubled world. If we suppress this creativity and become passive participants in the consumption of the culture we live in, we implicitly allow a dangerous precedent to be set for the future of the internet.

Warm Regards,

Adi Shankar

P.S. Thank you Mark Zuckerberg for hosting Power/Rangers and taking a stand https://www.facebook.com/theadishankarbrand