Warner Bros. Reportedly Filing Copyright Claim Over Trump Video Using ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ Score
President Donald Trump posted a 2020 campaign video on Twitter Tuesday that included a familiar piece of music that was quickly identified as part of the score from the film The Dark Knight Rises.
According to BuzzFeed News, Warner Bros. Pictures is planning to file a copyright infringement claim to have the video removed from the website for using the audio.
The studio released a statement Tuesday verifying that they would proceed with legal action.
“The use of Warner Bros.’ score from The Dark Knight Rises in the campaign video was unauthorized. We are working through the appropriate legal channels to have it removed.”
BuzzFeed News was unable to obtain a response from the White House.
The video displayed a series of quick shots of notable Democrats like Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Rosie O’Donnell, contrasting them with footage of Trump throughout his time in office with Kim Jong-un and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
There was no spoken dialogue in the video, as it instead displayed the text, “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they call you racist,” while the cinematic film score played in the background.
“The use of Warner Bros.’ score from ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ in the campaign video was unauthorized,” the studio said in a statement https://t.co/CajebFrMqf
— Variety (@Variety) April 10, 2019
This is not the first time Trump has used entertainment media to assist in publicizing his message, according to Comic Book. In November, Trump unveiled a Game of Thrones-inspired missive concerning sanctions on Iran. The message included a photo of the president alongside text that read “Sanctions are Coming” using the same font employed by the show.
HBO shot back with the tweet, “How do you say trademark misuse in Dothraki?” and later released a statement that further voiced their displeasure.
“We were not aware of this messaging and would prefer our trademark not be misappropriated for political purposes.”
It didn’t appear to faze Trump, who later displayed an actual poster version of the image on a conference table during a cabinet meeting in January.
The posting of the campaign video on social media led many to pinpoint the music as the track “Why Do We Fall” from composer Hans Zimmer’s score for The Dark Knight Rises.
Zimmer scored all three Batman films from Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy. He was awarded a Grammy for Best Score Soundtrack with The Dark Knight in 2009 and received a nomination for the same award with The Dark Knight Rises. Zimmer also won an Academy Award in 1995 for his work on The Lion King, according to Comic Book.
