When Copyrights Go Copywrong

Copyright is a critical protection for creative artists in a commercialized capitalist world, and until those later two problems are addressed I can’t stand opposed to the idea of copyright protection, and neither should anyone who’s a creator or appreciates creative work of any kind.

But sometimes, copyrights go copywrong.

I’m in the middle of writing an article on the “Reigle Report,” the official, Senate-published summary of the 1993 hearings into Gulf War Syndrome. Y’all remember that, right? And I bet you remember Hicks’ “Bullies of the World” routine – “How do you know?” “Well…uh…we looked at the receipt.”

I wanted to use that bit – 30.5 seconds – as the banner/foundation/lead-in to the article. So I figure maybe youtube, I’ll find the clip and link it. Surely with Comedy Dynamics holding the keys now, it’ll be easy to find, yeah?

But it isn’t.

I can rent or buy it, but the original isn’t available…through legit channels.

What IS available is several bootlegs of it, a couple with subtitles and then I found one clip about ten minutes long that has the whole bit in it.

Okay, so I’ll snag that, pull the thirty seconds I need, upscale it, publish it on youtube, and embed that, right? No big deal and totally falls under fair use (commentary/education). The purpose I’m putting it to is also totally in line with the point Hicks was making, and it’s really important to the piece because it underscores that we know this stuff and we have for decades but we just ignore it.

Nope. Spent four hours on all this and didn’t even get it published before YT police were all over me, blocked in 98% of the world and how dare I.

Trying to be the good guy really sucks sometimes. I am a creator, I’m not trying to rip anyone off or take money out of anyone’s pocket. I know my copyright law far better than most – I’m certain this is legitimate fair use under 17 U.S. Code § 107.

In no way was I claiming this to be my work, or to own it, or to even have any kind of claim to originality with it – unlike, say, the thieving grifters at The Other 98%. It’s just a snippet of a stand-up act that’s deeply informative, illustrates perfectly the point I’m making, and provides public education into the ways we’re hypnotized and misdirected into ignoring obvious and well-known realities.

It’s perfectly okay for someone else to post the whole concert because they auto-generated Italian subtitles on it, and a straight rip of the copyrighted video without credit is just fine, but now I’ve got everyone from the local dog catcher to Interpol climbing up my ass for trying to do things the right way with a thirty-second clip that legally I don’t even need permission to use.

My channel isn’t even monetized.

But Denis Leary can rip whole chunks of routine and build an entire career out of it.

What the hell, man.