▶️ Biggest YouTuber lawsuits ranked: from Klein's win to CryptoZoo
From the Kleins' 2017 fair-use win to Logan Paul's $1.3M refund promise: what judges actually decided, and what the record still doesn't show. ⏳
By MrViral, creators desk · Desk editor Gustavs Ērkšķis-Kreicbergs · · 3 min read
RANKEDPhoto: Lisa Fotios · Pexels LicenseYouTube's loudest feuds usually end in a response video, not a ruling. A few of them reached an actual courtroom - and the paperwork is less tidy than the thumbnails promised.
What we know
- A federal judge granted Ethan and Hila Klein summary judgment in 2017, ruling their reaction video was fair use "as a matter of law"; the pair had raised more than $130,000 for their defense, which they put into a "Fair Use Protection Account."
- Years after fans crowned him "the fair use king" for that win, Klein sued three reaction streamers in 2025 over their reactions to his Hasan Piker video - this time arguing their use was not fair use.
- Logan Paul promised a $1.3 million refund to CryptoZoo buyers in January 2023, a month before a class-action lawsuit named him; a year later he opened a $2.3 million NFT buyback that required claimants to waive the right to sue him.
- Paul filed a cross-claim in that case against two co-defendants, Eduardo Ibanez and Jake Greenbaum; no decision or settlement of the class action has been reported.
Here is what a court actually decided and what is still open, ranked from the single binding judgment down to the suits nobody has finished.
The record
| Case | Parties | Outcome | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hosseinzadeh v. Klein (2016-2017) | Matt Hosseinzadeh v. Ethan and Hila Klein | Decided - fair use | U.S. District Judge Katherine B. Forrest granted the Kleins summary judgment, ruling their reaction video was fair use "as a matter of law" and calling it "quintessential" criticism; the Kleins had raised more than $130,000 for their defense via the Fair Use Protection Account |
| CryptoZoo class action (filed 2023) | NFT buyers v. Logan Paul, Eduardo Ibanez and Jake Greenbaum | Filed - no outcome reported | Paul promised a $1.3 million refund in January 2023, opened a $2.3 million NFT buyback in 2024 that required claimants to waive the right to sue, and filed a cross-claim against co-defendants Ibanez and Greenbaum |
| Klein v. three reaction streamers (2025) | Ethan Klein v. Denims, Frogan and Kaceytron | Filed | Klein sued over the streamers' reactions to his Hasan Piker "content nuke," arguing they were not fair use; Frogan deleted her Twitch videos after the suit |
The one that's actually settled
Ethan and Hila Klein hold the only clean win on this list. In 2017, U.S. District Judge Katherine B. Forrest - a federal trial judge in New York - granted them summary judgment, ruling their reaction video was fair use "as a matter of law" and calling it "quintessential" criticism, per BBC News and TechCrunch. The couple had raised more than $130,000 for their defense, which they put into what they named the Fair Use Protection Account.
The one Klein is now arguing from the other side
Years after fans crowned him "the fair use king" for that win, Klein sued three reaction streamers - Denims, Frogan and Kaceytron - in 2025, this time arguing that their reactions to his Hasan Piker "content nuke" were not fair use, as Plagiarism Today and KQED reported. Frogan deleted her Twitch videos after the suit landed. The man who set the precedent is now the one testing where it stops.
The one still unfinished
Logan Paul's CryptoZoo is the least resolved entry. In January 2023 Paul promised to relinquish his stake and refund holders at least $1.3 million, Time reported, and a class-action lawsuit named him the following month. A year later he opened a $2.3 million NFT buyback - but to collect, claimants had to agree not to sue him, per NBC News and TechCrunch - and he filed a cross-claim against two co-defendants, Eduardo Ibanez and Jake Greenbaum. The class action that named him has not been reported decided or settled.
The Ledger
On the record
- A federal judge granted the Kleins summary judgment in 2017, ruling their reaction video was fair use "as a matter of law."
- Logan Paul promised a $1.3 million CryptoZoo refund in January 2023 and opened a $2.3 million NFT buyback in 2024 that required claimants to waive the right to sue him.
- Klein sued three reaction streamers in 2025 over their reactions to his Hasan Piker video; Frogan deleted her Twitch videos afterward.
Still rumour
That's the record. The rest is rumour. - MrViral
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