MrBeast’s lost at sea video hit with copyright claim over unlicensed animation

YouTube star MrBeast’s record-breaking ‘lost at sea’ video was hit with a copyright claim after an animator claimed he’d used their animation without permission.

Jimmy ‘MrBeast’ Donaldson is the single most-subscribed independent creator on YouTube. Lately, he’s been on a tear with his recent uploads, breaking records left and right on the platform.

On August 5, Donaldson uploaded a video where he and his crew were effectively ‘lost at sea’ for seven days. The upload broke YouTube’s record for most views gained in 24 hours for a non-music video and went viral across social media.

However, on August 17, fans noticed that the video had suddenly gone missing. Users were met with a message that read, “This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Tsuriel Design.”

MrBeast’s ‘7 Days at Sea’ video got Copyright Claimed… pic.twitter.com/FyLZs6eCS4

— YTAnalytics (@YouTubelytics) August 17, 2023

Viewers were quick to notice an interaction on Twitter that seems to have been the reason for the copyright claim.

MrBeast video copyright claimed over unlicensed animation

In response to a post where MrBeast celebrated breaking a YouTube record, a user named Tsuriel Designs noticed that someone on MrBeast’s team seemingly used one of their animations without first getting their permission.

“Hey!” they wrote in a tweet on August 6. “It looks like someone on the editing team took my animation for this video without compensation or permission.”

Hey! Looks like someone on the editing team took my animation for this video without compensation or permission 🤔🤔

— Tsuriel (@TsurielA) August 6, 2023

The animation in question is a two-second clip of a smartphone button changing from a moon to a sun in order to denote the changing of the days for MrBeast’s ‘stranded’ crew.

The copyright claim has sparked quite the conversation online, with many viewers debating the ethics of claiming an entire video over a two-second animation.

This is why the MrBeast raft video was taken down on YouTube… Insane. This is a 2 second animation used from a design company that apparently MrBeast team didn't have the rights to. Should companies be able to claim an entire vid for a 2 sec animation?? Technically it does… pic.twitter.com/mpgl1bNdgh

— Denver (@thatdenverguyYT) August 17, 2023

Thus far, Tsuriel Designs has yet to publish a response to the situation, leaving fans upset that MrBeast’s viral video isn’t available to watch.

This is just the latest drama MrBeast has found himself in after he called out scammers for using his name and branding to con fans out of money.