menu Home chevron_right
MUSIC VIDEOS

Carrie Underwood Stole My Paycheck: A ‘True’ Crime Tale From Copyright Hell

Bandsplaining | August 1, 2025



After experiencing a demoralizing copyright claim earlier this year, I wanted to better-understand how YouTube’s copyright system works, how it came to be, and why it’s been getting worse for creators. By pure chance, major music channels like @RickBeato, @theneedledrop and @ProfessorofRock started discussing this same issue right after I had finished this script. I hope this history and personal narrative can add to the discussion, and perhaps add a modicum of pressure to record labels to start respecting fair use.

Check out our Patreon for follow-up podcasts, bonus videos, and uncensored versions of these documentaries: https://www.patreon.com/c/bandsplaining

Editing & animation by @sedatephobe

Written by Bandsplaining

Comments

This post currently has 36 comments.

  2. @noidrite32

    August 1, 2025 at 4:39 pm

    I love this begrudged narrative you wrote "against" Carrie 😂 glad you can at least laugh about it, because I do not envy the BS youtubers have to struggle through just to have their videos visible, let alone monetized

  7. @ann1electro

    August 1, 2025 at 4:39 pm

    I loved your videos on Soviet Rock! I wish Russia wasn't under sanctions so I could support you on Patreon 😭
    Edit: Just remembered our government has banned it anyway. BRUH

  10. @davormismas

    August 1, 2025 at 4:39 pm

    I run a music channel and can share more details via DMs. Basically, when you get a strike, you can respond with a counter-notice. Legally, the claimant then has 10 days to take legal action and actually sue you, if they don’t, the strike is removed and you win. So far, no one has ever followed through and sued us. It’s definitely a stressful process, but honestly, it’s the only real way to fight back.

  17. @MarchantTapeArchive

    August 1, 2025 at 4:39 pm

    I come at this from a slightly different but equally troublesome angle – public domain. I am archiving recordings from the 40s and 50s of classical music being performed. On nearly every dang video content ID will claim that a composition that is hundreds of years old is actually owned by someone else – typically someone who has recorded that song, or the conductor of an orchestra that has recorded that song. No I'm not talking about matching a recording but ContentID telling me that Beethoven's Piano Concerto No 4 was actually written by Antal Dorati – a Hungarian conductor who died in 1988. Thankfully being a tiny channel my disputes typically expire (are not reviewed in 30 days) and the claim goes away.

    Sometimes the jerks will come back and say – oh yeah I wrote that. Yeah, I know my name isn't Beethoven but yep that's my song! On a few of those I've been afraid to dispute a second time – even though I am 100% right and this material is in the public domain. I don't have a Rick Beato budget to hire a lawyer.

    I also get false positive ContentID claims for audio recordings – maybe my tape is from a 1948 Minneapolis Symphony recording but ContentID will claim that it's from an RCA recording from 1950. Hey fair enough. Again with most of those my dispute works because they don't bother responding in 30 days.

    Either way – the system is horribly broken and YouTube has done little to improve the situation with their tooling. Ever had to dispute 10-15 contentID claims in a single video? I have – and boy is it painful.

    Love this video and love all your videos especially the ones on obscure scenes in China, Africa, Ukraine, etc. Mind boggling to me that some of those extremely tiny artists would think a claim against you is more valuable than the exposure.

  19. @dsnodgrass4843

    August 1, 2025 at 4:39 pm

    What labels should (but pretend not to) understand is : without their properties being talked about, those properties amass less direct monetary value, via sales and licensing. Also less indirect value; one of the reasons some people disdain perfectly good-quality modern music is bc no one is telling them it's good; as opposed to the decades of "received opinion" extolling The Greats, that they're still steeped in weekly if not daily.
    If the talk (+fair use) stops, the money-river dries to a trickle.
    If YouTubers chose a DMCA-happy label to call an embargo against, + made it stick for 2-3 months; that label's balance sheets would feel the sting.

  25. @YourVinylSucks

    August 1, 2025 at 4:39 pm

    I'm a nobody but yeah I gave up with including music in my reviews years ago. The content suffers without examples and potential listeners are lost because taster samples are very effective.

  29. @Fishlip5

    August 1, 2025 at 4:39 pm

    I upload old demos and live tapes, one video got struck over a couple of bars of The Sex Pistols Holidays, 40 min of the band was fine. Also all this seemed to escalate during covid , as bands started to get hungry. Its not like anty of them need the revenue, I got demonetized years ago, so there's no reason for me to do any uploading except for fun

Comments are closed.

Related
Miles Davis: ‘Bitches Brew’ | Review
Classic Album Review | May 8, 2026
Related
The Black Parade is a Romantic Masterpiece
Sound Field | May 8, 2026
Related
J Mascis – Elastic Days – Loser Edition VINYL UNBOXING ...
Poetic Wax | May 8, 2026

This area can contain widgets, menus, shortcodes and custom content. You can manage it from the Customizer, in the Second layer section.

 

 

 

Go to album
  • play_circle_filled

    92.9 : The Torch

  • play_circle_filled

    AGGRO
    'Til Deaf Do Us Part...

  • play_circle_filled

    SLACK!
    The Music That Made Gen-X

  • play_circle_filled

    KUDZU
    The Northwoods' Alt-Country & Americana

  • play_circle_filled

    BOOZHOO
    Indigenous Radio

  • play_circle_filled

    THE FLOW
    The Northwoods' Hip Hop and R&B

play_arrow skip_previous skip_next volume_down
playlist_play