A video tweeted by President Trump was removed from Twitter today after the publisher of R.E.M.’s songs complained about the band’s music being used in the video.
Trump shared the video, which mocked Democrats with excerpts from his Feb. 5 State of the Union address.
The roughly two-minute video featured R.E.M.’s 1992 hit single “Everybody Hurts” alongside close-ups of Democrats who looked displeased during Trump’s address.
A lawyer for Universal Music Publishing Group reportedly asked Twitter to remove the original video on Friday after it was first posted by the user @CarpeDonktum.
The video was not accessible on Twitter on Saturday afternoon.
Mike Mills, one of R.E.M.’s founding members, asked Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey in a tweet on Friday to intervene in the initial video’s publication.
“The assholes @CarpeDonktum created the meme. #PresidentAsshole retweeted it. Measures have been taken to stop it,” he tweeted. “@jack you need to get on this.”
The assholes @CarpeDonktum created the meme. #PresidentAsshole retweeted it. Measures have been taken to stop it. @jack you need to get on this.
— Mike Mills (@m_millsey) February 15, 2019
The members of R.E.M. also added:
World Leader PRETEND!!! Congress, Media–ghost this faker!!! Love, R.E.M.
— R.E.M. HQ (@remhq) February 15, 2019
Mills, meanwhile, celebrated the tweet’s removal.
So the meme’s fair use. I LOVE the 1st Amendment! Meme away, folks. But that takes nothing away from what a fraudulent con man @realDonaldTrump is. #WorldLeaderPretend
— Mike Mills (@m_millsey) February 15, 2019
The user who first posted the video accused Twitter of censorship after the video was removed.
Others were pleased about it:
trump’s video getting taken down for a copyright violation, which in turn rallies the masses to cry about twitter censoring conservatives is about the perfect way to end this week pic.twitter.com/CpUpfgYv17
— siraj hashmi (@SirajAHashmi) February 16, 2019
Trump later shared a different version of the video that kept the same images as the one before but instead featured Lee Greenwood’s song “God Bless the USA.”
Trump has drawn scrutiny for his use of copyrighted material before.
In November, he tweeted a picture of himself with the words “sanctions are coming,” a slogan referencing HBO’s hit series “Game of Thrones.”
HBO responded it would prefer Trump not “misappropriate” the slogan to promote his administration’s policies.
The Athens, Georgia-based foursome was one of the country’s top rock bands through the 1980s and ’90s.
Other hits include “Losing My Religion,” “Stand” and “Orange Crush.”
R.E.M. broke up in 2011.