Denims’ Lawsuit GoFundMe: Fair Use Ruling and Refunds

Denims, the Twitch streamer sued by Ethan Klein’s production company for copyright infringement, launched a GoFundMe called the “Denims v. Ethan Klein Fair Use Lawsuit Defense Fund” on June 19, 2025, the same day the complaint was filed. The campaign set a $100,000 goal and had raised roughly $58,973 from about 1,480 donors as of its most recent public snapshot. The page says the money will “cover any and all legal fees” tied to the copyright case.¹

The Two Denims Fundraisers, and Which Is Which

There are actually two GoFundMe pages tied to disputes between Denims (real name Alexandra Saber) and Klein, and they cover different fights.

The first, “Suing Ethan Klein for Defamation Legal Fund,” predates the copyright case. It raised $17,779. Denims used it to pursue a defamation claim after alleging Klein repeatedly and falsely linked her to a bogus Child Protective Services report filed against him. Her legal representative sent Klein a demand letter seeking a public retraction.²

The second, larger fundraiser is the fair use defense fund. It was created hours after Ted Entertainment Inc., Klein’s company, filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on June 19, 2025.³ That is the campaign currently sitting at about $59,000 of its $100,000 goal.¹

What the Money Is Paying to Defend

Ted Entertainment’s complaint, filed as Case No. 2:25-cv-05564, asserts copyright infringement under 17 U.S.C. § 101 over Denims’ livestreamed reaction to Klein’s 102-minute documentary Content Nuke: Hasan Piker. The complaint also names “Does 1-10,” identified as moderators of the r/H3Snark subreddit.³

Denims began streaming her reaction one minute after the documentary was published. Her stream ran nearly four hours in a split-screen format with the video on one side and her webcam on the other. She paused the documentary 211 times, called the production a “middle school project,” and used Associated Press articles to challenge Klein’s sourcing. She closed the stream by telling viewers, “if you enjoyed not giving any views to that terrible video, follow, subscribe, throw a prime.”⁴

Ted Entertainment argues the stream functioned as a “watch party” that siphoned views from the original during its critical release window, when Klein’s audience peaked near 45,000 concurrent viewers. Klein contends the commentary was too sporadic to be transformative and that roughly 70 minutes of the 100-minute documentary played without meaningful interruption.⁵ Denims disputes that math. She says she paused 210 times and added 230 minutes of her own commentary, which she describes as 120% of the original runtime in new material.⁶

Denims filed her answer with a jury demand in August 2025 and later moved for judgment on the pleadings, asking the court to declare the stream fair use as a matter of law.⁷

The Tentative Fair Use Ruling

On June 5, 2026, Judge Wesley Hsu heard argument on that motion. A tentative ruling indicated the judge was inclined to find the stream fair use, describing Denims’ commentary as “real-time criticism, commentary and mockery” rather than “lazy reaction” content. The tentative ruling leaned on Hosseinzadeh v. Klein — a 2017 case Klein himself won on fair use grounds — along with Stebbins v. Alphabet, and concluded the stream was “highly transformative” and offered a “very different experience” from watching the documentary alone.⁸

The ruling is not final. Judge Hsu took the matter under submission, and the docket showed no final judgment as of mid-June 2026.⁸ The case has a mandatory settlement conference deadline of August 28, 2026 and a trial date of October 26, 2026.⁷

What Happened to the Other Defendants’ Crowdfunded Money

Klein sued three streamers over reactions to the same documentary on the same day. What happened to the other two matters for anyone donating to Denims, because it shows what a loss or settlement can do to crowdfunded legal money.

Kaceytron settled in December 2025. Her settlement required her to release a video admitting to copyright infringement, retract prior statements that the lawsuit was “based on misogyny,” transfer her remaining GoFundMe proceeds to Ted Entertainment, and testify against the r/H3Snark moderators.⁴

Frogan also raised money through crowdfunding. A default judgment was reportedly entered against her in May 2026 after seven months of inactivity on her docket, which raised the same question about the status of her funds.⁹⁴

Denims is now the only defendant still actively fighting. She has said publicly that settling is “not an option” because doing so would, in her view, set a harmful precedent for streamers who produce reaction content.⁶

Where the Fundraiser Stands Now

The fair use defense fund is roughly 59% of the way to its $100,000 goal, with about 1,480 donors on the page.¹ The tentative ruling favoring Denims has not been finalized, and the case is scheduled for a settlement conference in August 2026 and trial in October 2026 if it does not resolve first.⁷

1
GoFundMe. Denims v. Ethan Klein Fair Use Lawsuit Defense Fund
2
Sportskeeda. What Allegations Ethan Klein Denims Accuses Libel CPS Remarks
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Business CCH. Ted Entertainment v. Saber Complaint
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Copyright Lately. Klein Reaction Video Lawsuits Update
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Copyright Lately. Ethan Klein Files Copyright Lawsuits Over Lazy Reaction Videos
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Sportskeeda. Twitch Streamer Denims Suggests Frogan Will Settle Ethan Klein’s Lawsuit Like Kaceytron
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CourtListener. Ted Entertainment Inc v. Alexandra Marwa Saber Docket
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Copyright Lately. Ethan Klein Denims Reaction Video Fair Use Tentative Ruling
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NDTV Sports. Ethan Klein vs Frogan Lawsuit Court Update