Who is the Lofi Girl? False copyright controversy explained as YouTube issues apology and promises to reinstate livestreams 

YouTube has apologized to content creator Lofi Girl after taking down one of the channel's most popular live-streaming music videos due to false copyright claims. The channel published a tweet over the weekend claiming that their cult-favorite livestream was taken down after receiving a false copyright strike.

Lofi Girl on YouTube remains one of the biggest and arguably most popular channels on the video-sharing platform. Netizens thoroughly enjoy the channel’s livestreams which promote underground hip-hop beatmakers.

On Sunday, the YouTuber's two most adored livestreams, “lofi hip hop radio — beats to relax/study to” and “lofi hip hop radio — beats to sleep/chill too,” have been running on the channel since February 22, 2020, were taken down. The content creator took to their official Twitter account, announcing that it was taken down due to copyright strikes.

“Hopefully @YouTubeCreators @YouTube will sort this quickly…”

After fans saw the tweet, the hashtag ‘BringBackLofiGirl’ started trending. Fans were hoping to get the attention of the video-sharing platform. Some also slammed Malaysian label FMC Music, which allegedly issued a false copyright complaint.

Lofi Girl also told TechCrunch that the channel couldn't be issued a copyright strike as all the music that appears on the channel is released through its own label Lofi Records, which means that they have the right to upload it.

On Monday, YouTube apologized for the takedown and confirmed that the copyright strike was wrongly issued. The platform said in a tweet:

“Confirmed the takedown requests were abusive & terminated the claimants account we’ve resolved the strikes + reinstated your vids- it can sometimes take 24-48 hours for everything to be back to normal! Do dory this happened & thx for your patience as we sorted it out.”

After YouTube announced that the livestreams would be reinstated, the channel creator took to their Twitter account and expressed gratitude to the channel’s fans. The tweet read:

“Thank you to everyone who helped spread the word, your contribution has been invaluable, and I couldn’t have asked for a more supportive community!”

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Who is the person behind Lofi Girl?

Those who spend a lot of time on YouTube may have come across the Lofi Girl YouTube stream, which includes a looping animation of an animated girl studying on her desk with her cat looking outside the window behind her as music runs through her headphones. The channel has amassed over 10.7 million subscribers.

The YouTuber is so popular that the Studio Ghibli-inspired character has been replicated by acting legend Will Smith and recreated on Cartoon Network’s official YouTube channel with a Steven Universe show character.

Columbian artist Juan Pablo Machado created a unique character. Prior to Lofi Girl coming into being, the channel was called ChilledCow. However, the name was changed as the creator thought the original name was “no longer reflective of what the channel is about.”

During ChilledCow’s time on YouTube, the account was handled by French artist Dimitri. That was until Machado’s character was introduced in August 2017.

Although the character remains as is, her outfits are routinely changed with a few tweaks in the videos, including her being placed in different locations. However, she has always remained in her iconic comfy outfit.

This is not the YouTuber's first deal with a copyright infringement claim. The original Lofi Girl character was Shizuku Tsukishima, the main character of Studio Ghibli’s Whisper of the Heart.

Footage of her studying with her earphones on while sitting at the desk was used in the videos for six months. However, as the channel became a viral sensation in its own right, the creators had to use footage that could not be copyrighted.