This Sunday, June 9, elections to the European Parliament will be held in Poland. The parties have the last hours to convince voters. Recently, the latest election spot appeared on the social media of Law and Justice. The creators of the recording used an obvious tactic, i.e. convincing the voters of Third Way and Szymon Hołownia.
PiS has released a new spot. The recording includes fragments of “Titanic” and “Gladiator”
In the recording we can clearly hear that the Third Way “leads” to Donald Tusk. Of course, in the eyes of PiS, the current prime minister is lies, empty promises and high prices. Nothing new. The creators of the video focused on an unrevealing message and rhetoric – us versus them. An interesting move here, however, is the fragment in which Law and Justice cleverly emphasizes that “he may not be a knight on a white horse, but” he remains a better choice than his rivals. The fragment aims to show voters that the party is not full of arrogance and is aware of its shortcomings.
In the Law and Justice spot, we hear loud music accompanied by quick cuts and energetic transitions between frames. And there’s something happening in the frames. The creators of the recording focused on references to pop culture and memes. They included fragments of famous films and even deepfakes in the spot. The use of Internet language on the Internet seems obvious, but have the creators broken the law by using someone else’s intellectual property? We asked an expert in the field of copyright law.
Fragments of films and series are very often used by Internet creators as quotes. However, as Maciej Tomaszewski, a legal advisor and author, explains to us, it is used to explain the content contained in another work, to polemicize with it, to critically or scientifically analyze such a work, and finally: to teach. – We are not dealing with such a situation here – the authors of the spot do not criticize the films used in the spot, they do not argue with them, and only then would it be possible to invoke this right. The purpose of using frames from the plot is clear – to make the spot more attractive by referring to well-known works of pop culture and, thanks to them, presenting politicians of the ruling party in an unfavorable light – emphasizes Tomaszewski.
“It’s clear that PiS is learning”
According to the expert, the use of film fragments in the PiS spot may be justified by the right to use songs for parody purposes. However, even here the lawyer has doubts. – This is permitted under copyright law, but only to the extent justified by parody laws. There are therefore weaknesses in such an argument, says Tomaszewski.
– For example, the shot from “Titanic” can actually be perceived as a parody, especially thanks to the use of deep fakes, but does the shot from the movie “Two Angry Men” meet these criteria? – the lawyer wonders.
The creator of the pop culture fanpage Słodko-gorzkie also reminds that this is not the first time that PiS has used movie fragments in a spot. The expert notes that the party has drawn conclusions from previous campaigns. – It is also clear that PiS is learning – I am happy to note that the spot contains the titles of films and the names of their directors. In previous spots using other people’s works, Jarosław Kaczyński’s party did not mark their authorship. A good practice in such a case is to also indicate the producer of the film, emphasizes Tomaszewski.
Attentive viewers will probably notice that the PiS spot is dominated by fragments of foreign productions. Among them, there was only a short insert from “Miś” by Bareja. – PiS has not decided to use fragments of Polish films on a wider scale, probably fearing potential claims from their directors or actors taking part in them, based on the opinion that such exploitation of plots made with their participation violates their legitimate interests. The use of such plots in the context of a political fight could raise understandable objections from creators and actors, and additionally – aimed at strengthening the arguments against voting for a party that the film community probably supports more than the authors of the spot. The use of fragments, mainly of foreign films, limits such risk – says the auto.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
