WVU Makes Despicable Decision Against Former Employee and Mountaineer Treasure

Anyone who is a true West Virginia Mountaineer fan knows and respects Doug Cross.  Cross, aka Dougity Dog, has created the best and most viewed WVU content on the internet.  His outstanding senior highlight video of Tavon Austin has nearly 20 million views and is the most widely-viewed football highlight video in YouTube history.

Although Cross has not created West Virginia content in a while, he recently released a highlight video for West Virginia wide receiver Sam James and also created the 2021 hype video for The Voice of Motown.  

However, last night, Cross was informed on Twitter by Matt Wells, senior associate athletic director for external affairs at West Virginia University, that he was given a DMCA Takedown Notice.  A DMCA notice refers to a notice sent because a copyright owner believes someone has posted an infringement and they want it removed without the hassle of filing an infringement lawsuit.

Cross took to Twitter to say, “Probably not producing anymore WVU content.  You think working my ass off for WVU Athletics for 7 years would have built up some goodwill.  But not with Matt Wells.  I am not surprised though.”

Wells’ decision to file the DMCA Notice led to a firestorm of complaints from West Virginia fans and former athletes, including Steve Slaton, Stedman Bailey and Terence Garvin.

Many fans cited Cross’ videos as being better and more influential than anything West Virginia sports has ever produced, and called Wells’ decision “ridiculous” and an “act of jealousy.”

Wells, to his credit, said that he would reach out to Cross and discuss the matter privately.

With that said, West Virginia University and Matt Wells are simply wrong here.  Doug Cross is a Mountaineer institution and he should be able to use any highlights or video clips that he wants from West Virginia sporting events.  West Virginia Head Coach Neal Brown recently said that Cross’ highlight compilations, particularly the Tavon Austin YouTube video, had an incredible positive impact on recruiting for the Mountaineers.   WVU and Wells should immediately release an apology and allow Cross to continue making the university and student athletes look great with his outstanding videos.