Use Of Celebrity Memes In Politics

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Use Of Celebrity Memes In Politics

Postby Marsbar » Mon Oct 07, 2019 1:50 pm

Use of celebrity memes in politics raises stakes for copyright owners...

TORONTO - Twitter and YouTube's decision to delete an edited clip of Nickelback posted in a political attack by Donald Trump came down to copyright complaints, but lawyers say the actions of the U.S. president may run afoul of other laws that protect singer Chad Kroeger's likeness from being used without his permission.

It's a situation that's coming up more frequently as meme culture, once dismissed as a teenage phenomenon, becomes part of the daily conversation.

For years, footage of celebrities from TV awards shows, movies and music videos has been repurposed to comedic effect. But more recently, those famous faces have wound up being used for political purposes or social statements.

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Many times those images fall under U.S. fair use laws - or similar laws called fair dealing in Canada - but as more public figures become part of memes that aren't authorized or contradict the person's own beliefs, some of them could fight back in the courts.

“We're seeing it all the time and it's becoming an issue in entertainment and in politics,” said Jennifer Davidson, an associate at law firm Deeth Williams Wall in Toronto.

“People are using the ability to protect their own likeness in order to make sure they are protecting their image.”

Whether Kroeger took exception to his image being used in a Trump tweet posted Wednesday isn't clear. Representatives for Nickelback in Canada did not respond to requests for comment.

And how Trump settled on Nickelback is also hazy, but the “Photograph” meme - which plays on the song's lyrics “Look at this photograph; every time I do it makes me laugh” - has a storied history in internet culture.

Similarly doctored footage of the band's 2005 music video has been recycled for nearly a decade as internet creators replaced the original photograph with a basket of cats, line graphs and many other humorous images.

But Trump's tweet carried a more serious tone, with Kroeger portrayed as clutching a framed photo of former vice-president Joe Biden, his son, a Ukrainian gas executive and another man. It was a reference to the president's unsubstantiated claims his Democratic rival dabbled in his son's overseas business deals.

A copyright claim was filed by Warner Music Group - owner of some of Nickelback's songs - under the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act, according to the Lumen database. In response, Twitter and YouTube removed the video.

Within hours, Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani tweeted the video again, and it took several hours before the clip was removed from his feed under another copyright claim.

A publicist for Warner Music Canada declined to answer questions on the matter.

Davidson said in many cases a social media company will err on the side of caution by removing a video to protect themselves from potential litigation.

“When they do take down the offending image, they shield themselves from liability,” she said.

Enforcement of copyright violations largely relies on good faith, said Catherine Lovrics, a partner at Bereskin & Parr LLP in Toronto. Social media platforms assume when you're filing a claim, you actually hold the copyright and believe your rights have been violated.


“It's an honour system from that perspective,” she added.
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