[logicallee]

This is a textbook example of fair use! A 5-second clip would have sufficed. it wouldn't have reproduced a large part of the work. it certainly wouldn't have affected the market for that work. it was for educational or criticism purposes, etc.

Just see the headings here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use

OTOH I can see why the author would have wanted to steer a million miles of reproducing ANYTHING (including so much as mentioning the title of any work, which obviously isn't copyright infringement.)

in this case it's not so much copyright infringement as steering very very clear of reference to anything.