Photo via Anti Police-Terror Project/YouTube
July 2, 2021, 11:41 am
Video of a confrontation with a California police officer on YouTube is being lauded as utterly hilarious for showing the cop putting on a Taylor Swift song during an argument with protest organizers because he thought it would keep the footage off of the video sharing platform. When pressed by the organizers, he states outright that he thinks the video of the conversation will be hit with a copyright takedown as long as he’s playing a well-known pop song on his phone during the recording.
Featured Video
Hide
The video is still on YouTube and is now spreading across social media platforms and news websites everywhere because it’s just too funny.
Advertisement
Hide
Cop Plays Taylor Swift to Prevent Video Sharing of Him Harassing Protesters
A cop demanded we move #Justice4StevenTaylor banners. We asked him why. He pulled out his phone & played a Taylor Swift song.
“You can record all you want, I just know it can’t be posted to YouTube.” pic.twitter.com/avpf1LUvCd
— Anti Police-Terror Project (@APTPaction) July 1, 2021
Protesters with the Anti Police-Terror Project came to the Alameda County Courthouse in California to speak their minds about the police killing of Steven Taylor by former cop Jason Fletcher, who shot Taylor as he left Walmart with bat allegedly without paying. Fletcher has been charged with voluntary manslaughter, and protesters came to rally against police brutality against BIPOC communities.
Alameda County Sheriff’s Sgt. David Shelby came out to make a big problem out of the group’s banner, which he claimed they were not allowed to hang on courthouse property. As Shelby argued with lead organizers, he seemed to notice he was being filmed, took out his own phone, and soon “Blank Space” by Taylor Swift was playing to the bafflement of the protesters.
“I don’t, I don’t know why we’re… are we having a dance party now?” asks APTP policy director James Burch.
“No, sir,” says Shelby.
“Did you… Are you playing pop music to drown out the conversation?” says the person recording, labeled as Rebecca.
“You can record all you want, I just know it can’t be posted to YouTube,” Shelby replies.
Advertisement
Hide
Unfortunately for the officer, he was very wrong, and he’s now under investigation by the sheriff’s office for possible policy violation. Shelby definitely let the protesters know that playing popular music in an attempt to trigger a copyright take-down of any video they might try to post is not the official policy of the department.
He also tried multiple times to defend himself by saying that he was “just listening to music,” but when asked to look into the camera and tell the truth, he did so.
“I’m playing my music so that you can’t post on YouTube,” he confirmed.
It’s not quite that simple, however. Local news contacted YouTube representatives to question them about their policy on popular music being played in videos, and their answer was that it was more complicated than Shelby seemed to believe.
“For starters, the copyright music has to be loud enough,” reports Melissa Colorado of NBC Bay Area. “Secondly, the spokesperson said that every music label has their own policy when it comes to their songs appearing in YouTube videos. Some allow it, some monetize it and others block it.”
If that wasn’t humiliating enough, Shelby will likely end up becoming the reason why there will be a clear policy on playing music when recorded by protesters at the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office in the near future.
“I think everybody agrees that that’s not a good look for law enforcement and for our agency in regards to what looks like an attempt to censor YouTube content by triggering a copyright algorithm or alert,” said Sgt. Ray Kelly.
“Everyone will be briefed that this is not procedure, we don’t do this.”
Advertisement
Hide
Shelby has more to worry about than his bosses, however. Taylor Swift fans are not to be trifled with.
*First Published: July 2, 2021, 11:41 am
0 Comments