Joseph Kahn’s Power Rangers fan film gets taken down on Vimeo, YouTube

By Brian Han

The “POWER/RANGERS” fan film directed by Korean American music video director Joseph Kahn (Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Eminem) was taken down on video hosting site YouTube at approximately 1 p.m. Thursday after being taken down on Vimeo the day before.

The film was released just three days ago.

“Saban just pulled POWER/RANGERS off Youtube,” Kahn wrote on Twitter. “Bad day for free speech, fair use, and Fandom in general.”

Kahn tweeted that copyright holder Saban Entertainment was actively seeking the halt of the film’s distribution online.

“Saban is trying to shut POWER/RANGERS down,” Kahn said. “If you’d like to keep watching, tell them to stop harassing me.”

When asked if he expected the backlash from Saban as well as the popularity of the video, his response was short and sweet.

“Yup,” Kahn said.

He told The Korea Times in an interview that “although I can’t really talk about it, I know that it might get taken down.”

Devoted fans are uploading copies onto streaming sites so it is still technically accessible although not through the original content creators.

There is no statement from either side as to whether the issue will be handled in a trial, but if it does come to that, the result will set an important precedent for these types of film and their distribution in the future.