The Inner Monologue

Ah, copyright enforcement—the magical system where the rules are made up, the penalties don’t matter (unless you’re a small creator), and the only consistency is that the little guy always loses. Let’s take a moment to appreciate the two most absurd extremes of this clown show:

1. Politicians Stealing Music Like It’s Their Job (Because Apparently, It Is)

Nothing says “I respect artists’ rights” like blasting “Born in the USA” at a rally while the artist is actively tweeting “I hate you, please stop.” But here’s the kicker: even when Springsteen, R.E.M., or the Rolling Stones explicitly say “do not use our music,” politicians just… do it anyway. Why? Because the only way to stop them is a lawsuit—one that costs the artist more in legal fees than they’d ever recover.

So, in the grand tradition of American justice, the law only works if you have enough money to burn. Politicians know this. They count on it. And thus, copyright becomes a polite suggestion rather than an actual rule—unless, of course, you’re not a wealthy celebrity with a legal team on retainer.

2. YouTubers Getting Demonetized Because a Car Drove By Playing 3 Seconds of Taylor Swift

Meanwhile, in the land of actual enforcement, a vlogger filming their morning coffee can get a copyright strike because, in the background, a faint echo of “Shake It Off” wafts in from a passing radio. Never mind that this is textbook fair use. Never mind that no sane human would argue this constitutes theft. The almighty Content ID system doesn’t care.

YouTube’s automated copyright enforcement is like a drunk mall cop with a vendetta—swinging wildly at anything that moves, punishing the innocent while the real offenders stroll by untouched. And if you dare to fight it? Enjoy spending weeks in copyright claim purgatory, begging a faceless corporation to acknowledge that no, your 10-minute analysis of quantum physics does not infringe on Ed Sheeran’s entire discography.

The Grand Irony: One Requires a Lawsuit, the Other Requires a Miracle

So here’s the beautiful, broken dichotomy we’ve created:

• Politicians blatantly misuse music for profit/promotion? “lol sue us.”
• A YouTuber accidentally captures 0.5 seconds of a song? “Your channel is now ours. Beg for mercy.”

It’s almost impressive how perfectly unbalanced this is. The people with the most power face the least consequences, while the people with the least power get crushed by an algorithm designed to avoid lawsuits at all costs.

How Do We Fix This? (Spoiler: We Probably Won’t)

Simple solutions exist, but they require two things the internet hates: nuance and effort.

• For politicians: Make unauthorized use of music in campaigns an automatic fine, payable to the artist. No lawsuit needed.
• For platforms: Stop letting bots play judge, jury, and executioner. Human review for disputes. Penalize false claims.

But let’s be real—neither of those will happen. Instead, we’ll keep living in this dystopia where copyright law is a weapon against the powerless and a joke to the powerful.

So congrats, everyone. We took a system meant to protect artists and turned it into a tool for silencing creators while letting the worst offenders laugh all the way to the (unlicensed) soundtrack of their campaign.

Bravo. 👏