Paramount's copyright crackdown on Stephen Colbert’s Eminem episode sparks backlash

Stephen Colbert hosted the public access show Only in Monroe with Jack White, Jeff Daniels, and Eminem one day after CBS ended "The Late Show".  

Detroit rapper Eminem appeared on tape as the “fire marshal” who approves setting fire to remnants of the set that Colbert, White and Daniels destroyed at the end of the show.

Paramount aggressively filed copyright takedowns on clips, but quickly backed down after heavy public backlash.

Commenting on the company's takedown notices, one X user wrote, "Paramount is apparently trying to suppress copies of "Only in Monroe" from appearing on other social platforms by filing frivolous copyright notices, even though the show was produced by a public access TV channel and doesn't use their intellectual property."

One user said, "Paramount cancelled his show to silence him. Instead they handed him a Streisand-effect comeback 10x bigger than the show ever was."

Some users, however, criticized Stephen Colbert and justified Paramount's action.

"Okay, that's fine. Except there's one problem with this. Stephen Colbert is not funny. He hasn't been funny sense Colbert Report." said an X user.

Another said, "Wait until further research shows that Colbert made that show with his “Late Show” staff, which means Paramount/CBS owns all rights — even though it AIRED on the public-access station. Doesn’t matter where it airs, it matters who made it."