You are probably right, but let's play it from the other angle to see why people are suggesting that they try to pursue a copyright claim against the police, us

You are probably right, but let's play it from the other angle to see why people are suggesting that they try to pursue a copyright claim against the police, using your post but turning it the other way: ---- Absolutely nobody, in the entire world, would ever have a recording of police brutality taken off of youtube because the police played a couple seconds of music, on their phone, while walking down the street. Don't pretend. Don't make up funny narratives, because you think that the recorder "deserves" it. This silly hypothetical just isn't going to happen. And people are lying to themselves that something like that would happen, because it sounds cool. The youtube moderation is not a piece of code that is run through your computer, and if you can find some technicality, or "well actuuuaaallly" argument, then it means that someone is going to go get their video removed. Instead, the law is interpreted by normal, human beings. And any actual normal human being, is not going to remove a video that is attempting to keep the police accountable because they played a couple seconds of a song, in a public street, on their phone. The technicalities, and debates, and loopholes that you think that you found in the youtube algorithm simply do not matter. ---- Obviously the above does not describe reality. The police seem to get to take advantage of the system to hide their misdeed, but as you (probably correctly) point out, citizens are NOT able to take advantage of the system to expose police misdeeds. This is why people are angry, and this is why you were downvoted.