Hi Everyone! I hope everyone had a good week so far. As we have now wrapped up copyright, I knew it was my last chance to share a piece of pop-culture (I think?) that has been on my mind.
What happened?
A while back, American podcaster Bobbi Althoff went viral for her podcast The Really Good Podcast, where she featured Canadian rapper and musician Drake as the guest. This podcast was uploaded to Youtube and gained a lot of attention due to the interview featuring the two lounging at opposite ends of a giant bed, Drake with a margarita, and Bobbi’s deadpan interviewing style. Much to the dismay of viewers, this video was soon wiped off every platform just as quickly as it went viral. Several days later, viewers also noticed that Bobbi and Drake had unfollowed each other. Why? While many people on the internet had theories, the one most relevant for our class is that Bobbi’s podcast was issued a copyright strike.
Why would it get a copyright strike?
During the interview, Bobbi had claimed that she did not know who the rapper Tyga was. As a result, Drake played Rack City on his smartphone for her. While seemingly just another bit in the podcast, many reports allege that Drake’s team reached out to Universal Music Group (who owns the rights to Tyga’s song Rack City), and issued a copyright strike against the podcast. Accordingly, under the terms that Youtube has with Universal Music Group, the lawsuit would have meant all proceeds from the podcast would belong to them – instead of Bobbi. Is this why she deleted the podcast? The podcast was about an hour long, and Drake wouldn’t have played the song for more than a few minutes.
If all this is true (which I have no clue if it is or not), it makes me think about if this would have been considered fair use in the US. Similarly, would the podcast be considered fair dealing in Canada?
The more obviously important question is if we think it was Drake himself who told his team to reach out to Universal Music Group…would he do such a thing? Maybe he regretted doing the podcast and this was his way of getting it removed. Another equally important, if not more important question is – what does Tyga think? While Universal Music Group owns the rights, does he care that his song was used in this podcast? All in all, the podcast is gone and we would likely never see it again or get confirmation on whether it was the copyright strike that got the podcast removed. I love would to know if you guys have thoughts on this.
Some articles that talk about this:
https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/709990-drake-accused-bobbi-althoff-interview-taken-down-fan-theory
Copyright & Social Media
Communications Law
Ooooh. Your case has it all. Music, celebrity intrigue and of course Intellectual property law. It is a trifecta of fun!
My only question if it is a copyright infringement on Tyga’s song, why couldn’t Bobbi just splice that section out of the podcast. Creative editing could have eliminated the segment with the copyright infringement. Et viola-no infringement.
Arguing fair dealing in Canada is in it of itself is interesting. Could it be said that Drake was educating Bobbi? Tyga could not claim commercial loss especially if song sales increased because it was showcased on a Drake/Bobbi viral podcast. I am not sure how long the clip was but the amount was it the whole song or just a preview akin to an Apple Music preview? It could also be argued that the nature of the dealing was increasing the knowledge of the general population.
Great post!
Doris
I totally forgot about Bobbi Althoff for the longest time; glad to see she’s still doing celebrity interviews while sporting her deadpan humour. I find it so strange how Youtube is so quick to copystrike uploads. I suppose it’s because the site isn’t a common carrier because it’s actions of curating content for viewers goes beyond “providing the means of telecommunication necessary for another person to so communicate the work”(s2.4).
While I could see how playing “Rack City” in this context could be seen as perhaps “education, research” or even “Criticism or review”, I think it would be a bit of a stretch. The reason for this is that the primary purpose of the video is a celebrity interview, and incidentally playing “Rack City” doesn’t seem to fit within such bounds. In fact, giving how deadpan Bobbi is I think it was more to just make Drake awkward. But then again, perhaps looking at whether the dealing was fair (Character, Amount, Alternatives, Nature, Effect) might help in fair use.
I agree with you though that there’s a good chance he regretted doing the interview.