Ownership of a Youtube Channel's 'Name'

[ohnoepatrol]

Hello,
I was curious to see if anyone would have a better understanding of the YouTube trademark rights towards a youtube channel.
Quick version, my friends recently been contacted by Google/Youtube saying that a trademark holder is filing a complaint and requesting account deletion in order to reclaim the name. Does my friend have any 'rights' to this channel seeing as he registered it in 2005 and had never been contacted by the trademark holder at any point beyond Google reccently doing so? All that's on the YT channel is my friends favorites, no videos of his own. Can he 'ask' for some form of compensation or does he HAVE to surrender the account?

Thanks.
Sorry if this reads vaguely or like an indirect question: not quite sure how to phrase it.

[Mr. Knowitall]

His use either infringes the mark or it does not. If it does not, he can defend against the mark holder's claim on that basis. If it does, he should expect that he's going to lose the channel. You don't get compensated when your infringement of somebody else's trademark is brought to an end - if anybody is entitled to compensation in such a context, it would be the party's whose trademark is infringed.