It Feels Personal: How to Catch a TikTok Thief
When filmmaker Hugh Clegg finds out that his video has been stolen and turned into a viral meme by an anonymous TikTok user, he embarks on an internet odyssey to find the thief.
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00:42 So do you remember that video that we did two years ago running down the street?
00:49 Did quite well.
00:52 Someone's just taken it, taken a 10 second clip of it and reposted it on TikTok.
01:01 Now it's going viral. Millions and millions of views. Our video. They stole it.
01:10 Who are they?
01:26 Isn't that crazy? It's got millions of views. It's just growing.
01:33 And we're not credited. Everyone thinks it's this account, this anonymous account.
01:40 What are you going to do?
01:42 I think I'm going to try and find them.
01:44 Okay.
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02:34 You f***ing serious?
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02:43 When someone is using your videos without your permission.
02:48 Today I'm kind of pissed off.
02:50 They ripped my video, point for point.
02:52 You're putting someone else's videos and claiming it to be yours?
02:56 Yes, a church did steal one of my videos.
02:59 The Bible is very clear about not only you shouldn't steal, but also paying someone their fair wage for their works.
03:06 On the other hand, I am a Christian.
03:10 They are liable for copyright infringement.
03:13 You like jazz?
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03:32 We're at the client's house. The wife is home. I can see her car from here.
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03:42 So now we play the waiting game.
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03:50 Hey Hugh.
03:52 Hello, how are you doing?
03:54 If you were trying to find someone who was anonymous on the internet, how would you go about doing that?
04:01 Well, what do you mean by anonymous?
04:03 You need something to put a puzzle together a little bit.
04:07 Where was he born? Give me some clue. Give me something.
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04:22 When did he go to bars? Yeah, he likes to hang out with his friends. It's part of the process.
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04:35 It takes a lot of legwork to try to find this guy.
04:38 I found out he's got a gaming account on this thing called Roblox, which is like a social media platform for gamers.
04:48 Yeah, that's good. See, that's how you do it. You could walk into that area and even ask people about it.
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04:57 It's amazing what people will tell you if I simply ask them.
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05:34 So how can I help you? What do you want to know about me?
05:39 So firstly, I'd love to know how you got started with your meme page.
05:43 So I'm 26 now. I was working full time as an accountant and I quit my job at the start of the year.
05:50 I don't think I expected it to become what it did. Probably one of the biggest UK-based platforms that there is at the moment.
05:58 What do you feel about memes being, for example, the Boris Johnson video being taken and taken and ripped and ripped and ripped?
06:05 When I first started, it was very frustrating seeing my memes being recreated and then going viral on someone else's page.
06:15 There's hundreds, maybe even thousands of memes that I've created which have been ripped off and recreated and they still go viral to this day.
06:23 But I quickly come to the realisation that it is just part of the culture.
06:28 Getting upset about your content being used isn't going to get you anywhere.
06:32 Hmm. Okay, I'll think about that. Thanks for your time.
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06:41 What am I doing?
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06:47 Studying for App Scallion!
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06:53 Getting upset about your content being used isn't going to get you anywhere.
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07:01 The rest, my little boy.
07:04 You like jazz?
07:06 My goal is very clear about not only pushing steel, but building a life out of steel.
07:14 What are you doing?
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07:21 You?
07:35 I can't find them.
07:37 Who?
07:39 This stupid meme thief. I can't find them anywhere.
07:42 Yeah.
07:46 [Sigh]
07:47 Really bumming me out.
07:49 To take someone's video. It's quite a personal thing, isn't it?
07:55 Have you seen all these other videos, all these other TikToks that have been inspired by our video?
08:07 What?
08:10 They've remade the clip that was on TikTok originally, the one you've been chasing,
08:16 but they've put them and their friends running down the street instead.
08:21 Or an animation, or Lego figures. There's hundreds of them.
08:26 Really? Can you send them to me now?
08:30 Sure.
08:33 Thanks.
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08:40 You created an internet moment here.
08:44 Made a lot of people happy in a pretty dark time.
08:53 This is about more than you.
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09:05 Whether you own it or not, does it really matter?
09:09 You've given joy to others. You're part of something, part of a community.
09:15 [Phone rings]
09:20 Yeah.
09:22 Yeah, that's interesting.
09:33 Yeah, maybe you're right.
09:38 Can you do the voice one more time?
09:50 You bloody rapscallion!
09:53 Thanks.
09:57 [Phone rings]
10:00 [Phone rings]
10:28 Fucking idiot. I can't believe he's put on that fucking suit.
10:31 Can you hear me?
10:40 Yeah, can you hear me?
10:46 The reason why I'm chatting with you is because you have taken my video.
11:01 I remember when you messaged me about that, I think.
11:05 Yeah.
11:07 Oh my god, now it all makes sense.
11:11 Oh my gosh, like, because it was, I made it and obviously did not expect it to go anywhere.
11:16 And then I got a message saying, "Oh, I did that."
11:19 I did feel awful because obviously I didn't make that video, but I've got all, like, all the likes from it.
11:27 I was like, "Oh gosh, what do I do? Do I delete it?" It was funny.
11:30 It was so weird. I was just refreshing my page and it kept coming through and I'm screenshotting everything.
11:37 I've probably got all the screenshots still and sent them to my friends being like, "What is going on?"
11:41 It must have been quite a big event.
11:46 Oh god, yeah.
11:49 I was telling everyone, even at work, I've just done a TikTok.
11:55 And then they're telling their kids and things like that, it was quite funny.
11:58 So me and my boss are doing a great job at it.
12:01 She was well impressed.
12:04 She's seen all the different people, like, recreating the meme.
12:07 I've seen them on mine and it's just, like, little kids, like, laughing at it. It's sweet.
12:13 That's surely positive. Like, if you, like, find yourself smiling and you're like, "Oh, this has actually really picked up my mood."
12:20 Yeah, so hopefully that's kind of come out of that.
12:33 I can do that worm thing.
12:35 On the floor?
12:37 On the floor. That's it.
12:38 I can't, I'm not even going to explain it. I don't even know how to do it.
12:42 We'll hopefully be able to chat soon.
12:48 Definitely. Thank you.
12:50 Thank you so much for doing this.
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