Deliberately Playing Copyrighted Music to Avoid Being Live-Streamed
Vice is reporting on a new police hack: playing copyrighted music when being filmed by citizens, trying to provoke social media sites into taking the videos down and maybe even banning the filmers:
In a separate part of the video, which Devermont says was filmed later that same afternoon, Devermont approaches [BHPD Sgt. Billy] Fair outside. The interaction plays out almost exactly like it did in the department—when Devermont starts asking questions, Fair turns on the music.
Devermont backs away, and asks him to stop playing music. Fair says “I can’t hear you”—again, despite holding a phone that is blasting tunes.
Later, Fair starts berating Devermont’s livestreaming account, saying “I read the comments [on your account], they talk about how fake you are.” He then holds out his phone, which is still on full blast, and walks toward Devermont, saying “Listen to the music”.
In a statement emailed to VICE News, Beverly Hills PD said that “the playing of music while accepting a complaint or answering questions is not a procedure that has been recommended by Beverly Hills Police command staff,” and that the videos of Fair were “currently under review.”
However, this is not the first time that a Beverly Hills police officer has done this, nor is Fair the only one.
In an archived clip from a livestream shared privately to VICE Media that Devermont has not publicly reposted but he says was taken weeks ago, another officer can be seen quickly swiping through his phone as Devermont approaches. By the time Devermont is close enough to speak to him, the officer’s phone is already blasting “In My Life” by the Beatles—a group whose rightsholders have notoriously sued Apple numerous times. If you want to get someone in trouble for copyright infringement, the Beatles are quite possibly your best bet.
As Devermont asks about the music, the officer points the phone at him, asking, “Do you like it?”
Clever, really, and an illustration of the problem with context-free copyright enforcement.
Not A Lawyer • February 15, 2021 1:33 PM
I’ll start off by saying I have no understanding of the intricacies of the law in this realm, and so my question comes from pure ignorance and is just that (and it was provoked by your side-thought of “context-free copyright enforcement”):
Let’s say that I am live-streaming, and suddenly person B starts playing copyrighted content; what is the culpability of each person according to the law?
Could I, even though I am the ‘streamer of record’, claim something similar to a Section 230 and say “Look man, I’m just the conduit”?
I know this doesn’t really address the whole “My live stream of my friend getting 7 warning shots in the back got taken down and so I couldn’t tell the world” deal, but I’m genuinely interested into what the law says…
I am also interested into whether or not there would be an avenue to force the copyright holder to sue the player-of-copyrighted-materials instead of me; maybe even force them to win to get rid of this nasty type of business if they wish to retain the copyright?