Warner Bros. Reportedly Filing Copyright Claim After Donald Trump Video Uses ‘Dark Knight Rises’ Score

UPDATE: HuffPost was able to obtain a statement from the studio in regards to the situation.

“The use of Warner Bros.‘ score from ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ in the campaign video was unauthorized,” Warner Bros. said. “We are working through the appropriate legal channels to have it removed.”

The story as it originally appeared follows.

Earlier tonight, President Donald Trump’s Twitter account uploaded a bizarre video including clips of himself edited together with a piece of Hans Zimmer‘s score from The Dark Knight Rises. Now, Warner Brothers is reportedly proceeding with legal action. According to a new report from BuzzFeed, the movie studio — and it’s parent company WarnerMedia — are either in the process of or have filed a copyright claim with the microblogging platform in an effort to remove the video from the website.

The two-minute video shows clips of Trump meeting with foreign dignitaries such as North Korea’s King Jong Un and Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro intercut with footage of prominent liberals from President Barack Obama to Amy Schumer and Rose O’Donnell. The dramatic video doesn’t include a single line of dialogue, rather it features superimposed text over the dramatic song “Why Do We Fall.”

“First they ignore you,” the video reads. “Then they laugh at you, then they call you racist.”

BuzzFeed was unable to obtain comments from either WarnerMedia or the White House on the situation. Of note, the merger of WarnerMedia and AT&T was once opposed by Trump’s Department of Justice, although courts allowed the deal to close.

Zimmer has been a long-time collaborator of director Christopher Nolan, which led the composer to score all three of Nolan’s Batman films. Zimmer won a Grammy in 2009 for Best Score Soundtrack with The Dark Knight and was nominated for same award four years later with The Dark Knight Rises. The composer was one Academy Award under his belt, winning for his work on The Lion King in 1995.

Shazam! is in theaters now. Other upcoming DC movies also include Joker on October 10th, Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) February 7, 2020, Wonder Woman 1984 on June 5, 2020, The Batman on June 25, 2021, The Suicide Squad on August 6, 2021, and Aquaman 2 on December 16, 2022.

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