Copyright law is a bitch. Just ask Rand Paul’s newly launched presidential campaign whose video “Stand With Rand: Kentucky” just got pulled from YouTube on copyright grounds. YouTube’s Content ID system flagged a song in the video by country singer John Rich. “Sorry about that,” says the YouTube page now.
It’s hard to figure out who to blame here. If you’re a fan of Rand Paul and freedom, you might blame the Warner Music Group, who owns the copyright to Rich’s song “Shuttin’ Detroit Down.” You might also blame the vaguely Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA), which has become famous for overreach. You could even blame YouTube for its sometimes fault Content ID system. Maybe it was all a big mistake!
Or you could just take the route of Occam’s Razor and blame Rand Paul’s newly launched presidential campaign. The simplest explanation is that they didn’t secure the rights through the appropriate avenues and got busted by Google’s robots. Either way, the music video for “Shuttin’ Down Detroit”—starring Mickey Rourke and Kris Kristopherson—is better than any campaign video ever could be.
Contact the author at adam@gizmodo.com.
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