Trump faces legal action from Warner Bros after using Dark Knight Rises music in campaign video
President has history of using music from Christopher Nolan's 2012 blockbuster
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Warner Bros has taken legal action against Donald Trump after he used music from The Dark Knight Rises in a two-minute video posted to Twitter.
The US president applied the music, titled “Why Do We Fall?” and composed by Hans Zimmer, to his 2020 re-election campaign video.
The video showed the president alongside many of his enemies, including Barack Obama, Rosie O’Donnell and Bryan Cranston.
Following news of Warner Bros’ legal action, the tweet – which also featured the 2012 sequel’s title cards – was still available but the video had been replaced by a message stating: “This media has been disabled in response to a report by the copyright owner.”
In a statement, Warner Bros said: “The use of Warner Bros’ score from The Dark Knight Rises in the campaign video was unauthorised.
“We are working through the appropriate legal channels to have it removed.”
Trump, who entered the White House after beating Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016, has previously used pop culture references to promote his presidency.
During heightened tensions with Iran, he used a Game Of Thrones-style poster bearing the slogan “Sanctions Are Coming”, a reference to the series’ “Winter Is Coming”.
During his inauguration in January 2017, he delivered a speech that many pointed out had some striking similarities to one spoken by Dark Knight Rises villain Bane, played by Tom Hardy.
Trump is no stranger to legal action over copyright issues.
Artists including Prince, Pharrell Williams and The Rolling Stones have taken issue with the US president using their music at campaign rallies.
Additional reporting by Agencies
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments