Alireza Shafiei, known online as PrettyBoyAli, is a popular content creator on TikTok who didn’t appreciate a small post on Reddit criticizing him and sharing a clip that showed Shafiei yelling at one of his viewers during a livestream. Shafiei wanted Reddit to reveal the identity of the user who posted it via a DMCA request. But a judge ruled that won’t be happening.
In July 2025, Reddit user tiktoktruthseeker posted a video from a past Shafiei livestream in the Favorited Ranks Drama subreddit. The 27-second clip showed an agitated Shafiei aggressively insulting someone in the chat, telling the person that “when you were in school you got fucked in the ass” and further adding that the viewer “liked it” when “guys” did that. He also called the viewer’s mom a bitch. TikToktruthseeker’s post, titled “PBA: Weaponizing SA, Homophobia, and Moms for his Angry Rant,” featured a paragraph of criticism about the clip, calling Shafiei’s comments “homophobic” and repulsive. The user also claimed Shafiei was using sexual assault imagery and language to “weaponize others.”
The original post got fewer than 50 upvotes and comments. But Shafiei saw it and tried to use a DMCA claim and his lawyers to force Reddit to remove the post and reveal tiktoktruthseeker’s identity. A judge has stepped in and clearly explained, nope, that ain’t happening, buddy.
On June 26, US Magistrate Judge Thomas Hixon in California denied Shafiei’s attempt to reveal the poster’s identity and defended the anonymous Reddit post’s sharing of the clip as being protected under fair use doctrine.
“[The Reddit post provides] criticisms of Shafiei’s language, including his references to an individual’s mother, anal sex, and child sexual abuse,” wrote Judge Hixon in his court order. “Even though the Reddit user included an unaltered clip from Shafiei’s livestream, what matters is that the poster used it to express criticism of Shafiei’s rhetoric. As such, the Reddit user’s posting of the clip is a transformative fair use rather than infringement.”
Shafiei had tried to argue, among other things, that using the clip unedited didn’t transform it enough to make it protected under fair use, but Hixon cited past cases that showed that “physical changes are not required for a new use to be transformative.” Further, he explained that legal precedent shows that “critical commentary such as this is a quintessential fair use right.” Another factor that swayed the Judge was that the Reddit user wasn’t directly making money off the post, meaning it was a “non-commercial” and “transformative” piece of content.
Perhaps the funniest bit is when Shafiei tried to argue that the Reddit post was illegally sharing too much of his content outside of his control. The Judge pointed out that in the creator’s original legal filing, he and his legal team referred to the video in the post as a clip, implying they understand it’s just a small part of something bigger.
The judge also added, “The use of a 27-second clip from someone who livestreams up to 16 hours per day is quantitatively insignificant and weighs in favor of fair use.” Talk about getting screwed by being chronically online.
“For the reasons stated above, the Court finds the record establishes that Reddit’s user made fair use of Shafiei’s video clip,” the judge’s order read. “Consequently, the user did not infringe Shafiei’s copyrighted work, and there is no basis in the DMCA for a subpoena to compel disclosure of the user’s identity. The Court therefore denies Shafiei’s motion to compel.”
Womp. Womp. And now, a bunch of people who had no idea this clip existed or even who this guy was are going to look up the Reddit post and hear him say all those nasty things. One day people will learn about the Striesiand Effect. Not today.
