The Claim

You voted, and KEEP won. The video Hermes posted on his second channel during his strike stays up, and by 7 a.m., in his mother's cave on Mount Cyllene, it has brought him three thousand new followers overnight. You kept me, he laughs, best vote you ever made. Then Maia asks one question: sweetheart, whose music is that?

Apollo's. The soundtrack came off the golden drive Apollo gave him to cut his streams. But Hermes invented the lyre, he says, so it's practically his. At 9:12 a.m., in the agora, a notification: copyright claim, claimant Apollo. A claim, not a strike, Hermes laughs. Nothing comes down. He thinks he won.

So why is Apollo smiling? At noon, at the gates of Apollo's villa, an ad plays before Hermes's video. Keep it, little brother, Apollo says. Every view pays me. At 3 p.m., Ares plays the video live again. First comes an ad, and it pays Apollo.

Here is the trap: on YouTube, a Content ID claim is not a strike, and nothing comes down. But the owner of the music can choose to run ads on the video, sharing revenue with the uploader only sometimes. Three thousand years ago, Hermes gave Apollo the lyre. Now it eats his views.

Now the choice: dispute, and if YouTube finds no valid reason, Apollo can ask for the video's removal, and that means a copyright strike. Accept, and every view pays Apollo. Then, at 9 p.m., Ares calls: Apollo's eating your views, messenger. I can stop him. For a price.