Dear Shaun,

We are making this petition as Vegans who want to see Veganism spread as far and wide as possible. Michael from the YouTube channel "The Vegan Activist", can no longer monetise his YouTube content due to a copyright claim from uploading Earthlings to his channel.

Nation Earth recently removed Earthlings, (a 2005 documentary responsible for countless new Vegans) from YouTube, so they could finally receive profit for their hard work on this film. Without Earthlings, many of us would never understand the ethical ramifications of commodifying animals. It has been a major part of the exponential growth of Veganism in recent years and an invaluable resource in the Vegan community.

Many passionate Vegan activists had this resource uploaded to their channels, for the sole purpose of exposing this documentary to the masses. Michael was one of those people. He is a dedicated activist who spends the majority of his time making quality videos that has inspired many new Vegans. Unlike other young people, Michael has unquestionable purpose in spreading the Vegan message. In less than one year, his videos have been viewed over 400,000 times. Michael dedicates hundreds of hours into making videos and has an open Skype account, that allows others to speak directly to him.

Nation Earth took Earthlings from YouTube in order to rightfully receive profit from their work, but now Michael is also unable to receive compensation from his videos. As part of the copyright claim, he has lost other YouTube privileges. Therefore, not only can he no longer be financially rewarded, he also loses out on attracting more people to his content. Any income that he receives from his channel equates to less hours he has to spend working to provide for himself. Michael wishes to be a full time Vegan activist, and thus it seems only fair that, for the hours he spends working on content, he receives an income.

We understand why a copyright claim was made on Michael's channel, but now respectfully request that it be removed. In this uphill battle to turn the world Vegan, we should be unified in supporting each other to be the best activists we can.

Please reconsider this copyright claim.

If you would like to further support Michael in his activism, you can make donations to his Patreon account: https://www.patreon.com/theveganactivist?ty=h