Dr DisRespect made headlines last week when he declared in a Youtube video that he plans to sue Twitch. Dr DisRespect suing Twitch hasn't actually led to any litigations so far, so we wondered whether this was really possible. Dr DisRespect said in his stream that the ambiguity of his Twitch ban affected his marketability, and cited that Twitch's refusal to give an official reason for his ban cost him sponsorships. We reached out to Anita K. Sharma, Esq., entertainment attorney and Managing Partner at Sharma Law for her opinion on what she thinks about Dr DisRespect's chances if ever he does take Twitch to court.
Disclaimer: Atty. Sharma's opinions do not reflect the opinions of the author and of any ClutchPoints editor. Atty. Sharma does not represent Dr DisRespect, has not spoken to him or anyone on his legal team, and admits that she may not have all the facts. The following comments are her opinion only, and should not be taken from anything aside from an expression of opinion.
Atty. Sharma says,
“With respect to litigation, Dr. Disrespectwill have to come up with facts, that if proven, will support a claim recognized by the law such as a breach of contract, a good faith and fair dealing claim or a tort like “interference with economic relations”. There may also be applicable civil statutes. Basically, there will be a process where Twitch will respond to the Dr. Disrespect’s claims and likely assert that the claims are not provable, etc. Twitch may even counterclaim against him. For example, they may claim he breached Twitch’s terms of use. If the proceedings move past that point, then Dr. Disrespect will have an opportunity to prove in a trial that what he accuses them of are true. The main question here seems to be: is what Twitch did (the ban) a violation of a partnership agreement with Dr. Disrespect and/or a violation of a legal statute?”
She also cited Phantoml0rd's suit against Twitch as an example. In 2016, Twitch suspended James Varga, aka Phantoml0rd, for allegedly repeatedly violating Twitch's TOS. However, Twitch did not provide details with respect to the violations. Varga sued claiming Twitch breached their contract/partnership agreement with him, and Twitch counterclaimed that he was aware of multiple violations. Long story short, he won – Twitch was found liable for not following procedure when terminating him, but Varga only got $20k for lost earnings, lost brand deals and lost donations, and not the $35 mill he was originally asking for. Varga's ban was also not lifted, and he never got reinstated to the platform.
“Sure, he can claim damages for lost opportunities (reparations will likely not apply here). Damages will arise directly out of what Dr. Disrespect’s claims are: civil contract damages vs tort damages are different, and it’s state specific and very nuanced. For example, with tort claims you can get consequential damages, i.e. “you messed with my economic relationship on purpose and now you owe me for lost opportunities, etc.”. With contract damages it’s usually what was owed under the contract. He may very well claim both. Creative lawyers will always be able to make a case. Whether they can win or not is another story.”
While Dr DisRespect seemed riled up in his Youtube video last week, we have to remember that the real-life Guy Beahms is playing a character when appearing in front of the camera. His words may just be his character reacting to real-world events, and may or may not reflect Guy Beahms' real opinions. The fact that we haven't seen Guy Beahms suing Twitch yet may indicate that he really does not intend to sue.
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