Warner Bros launches legal action against Donald Trump over tweet
This article contains affiliate links. We may earn a small commission on items purchased through this article, but that does not affect our editorial judgement.
The US president, notorious for his often controversial use of the social media platform, posted a two-minute video for his 2020 re-election campaign which used Hans Zimmer’s Why Do We Fall? from the 2012 film.
It also featured the film’s title cards.
Following news of Warner Bros’ legal action, the tweet was still available, but the video had been replaced by a message stating: “This media has been disabled in response to a report by the copyright owner.”
Mr Trump had captioned it: “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdIn 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.”
Republican Mr 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”.
And Mr Trump, a controversial and bombastic leader, 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.