The copyright business as it stands today is basically a swindle.
If you look at youtube, it’s a giant freeforall, where thieves - big thieves to be sure - assert copyrights they don’t really have, and the artists be d*mned.
Same goes for absolutely every piece of data, with even the fedgov asserting copyright to al quaida propaganda films in order to regulate distribution.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_copyright_law
The origin of copyright law in most European countries lies in efforts by the church and governments to regulate and control the output of printers.[6] Before the invention of the printing press, a writing, once created, could only be physically multiplied by the highly laborious and error-prone process of manual copying by scribes. An elaborate system of censorship and control over scribes existed.[7] Printing allowed for multiple exact copies of a work, leading to a more rapid and widespread circulation of ideas and information (see print culture).[6] Pope Alexander VI issued a bull in 1501 against the unlicensed printing of books and in 1559 the Index Expurgatorius, or List of Prohibited Books, was issued for the first time.[7]
The alphabet networks which are billion dollar entertainment companies will steal video clips from youtube of “breaking news events” and lolcats without paying the creators.
Funny how that works. I’ve never heard of a successful prosecution against one of these megacompanies even when the creators post “contact me for usage/clearance” information.
I am referring to disaster footage (collapsing stages at concerts, plane crashes, tsunamis, etc.).
Time was a Zapruder on the scene would actually make money for his being in the right place at the right time.
I have zero sympathy for the companies that have abused copyright law, abused the public trust in news coverage, etc.