A couple of days ago I posted the video for “Iran So Far”, the latest Andy Samberg digital short, and embedded it from NBC’s official YouTube account. Bad move. A few hours later the clip had mysteriously disappeared; leading one to wonder if SNL had become so hard ass about their sketches appearing online that they were even threatening themselves with legal action.

What really happened isn’t any less confusing.

It turn out that in the “Iran So Far” song sampled an obscure Aphex Twin instrumental called “Avril 14th” without clearing the song. Now it this point, NBC still isn’t legally in the wrong, as they’re protected by an obscure FCC concept called “Ephemeral recordings” which, best as I can tell, allows for the one time broadcast of a performance over FCC governed television or radio airwaves, free of normal copyright requirements.

However, that has nothing to do with the internet and NBC was forced to take the “Iran So Far” clip down until the Aphex Twin sample officially clears. Likewise, NBC would be legally liable if they chose to rebroadcast the clip on television, as the “Ephemeral recordings” loophole is a one time free pass.

That NBC, (of their army of lawyers only a few are just Law & Order actors) would initially drop the ball on this internet clearance issue surprised me; that is until I actually looked at the legal small print regarding “Ephemeral recordings”.

The entire statuette revolves around a term called “phonorecord” which… wait for it… I looked up on Dictionary.com and just as I suspected wasn’t actually a word in the English language. So if you’re ever at a party and want to impress a girl by pretending to be a lawyer but don’t know what to say just start making stuff up… apparently that’s what the real ones do anyway.

Anyway, here’s the original Aphex Twin composition… see if it sounds familiar.

Via