There is much controversy surrounding the Conservative party’s latest anti-Liberal advertisement. It opens with images of ISIS killing prisoners in horrible ways– first, by drowning in a cage, and then a beheading by an explosive cable wound around their necks, followed by a clip of Justin Trudeau affirming that “we’d move away from the [bombing] mission”. In the interview, CBC’s Terry Milewski continuously questions Trudeau about his declaration that a Liberal government will pull Canadian troops out of the mission with ISIS and re-establish a diplomatic relationship with Iran, asking “If you don’t want to bomb a group as ghastly as ISIS, when would you ever support real military action?” “Terry, that’s a nonsensical question,” Trudeau responds, and the ad ends with Trudeau’s face and the now familiar phrase “Just Not Ready”.
This clip debatably violates part of Bill C-51’s anti-terror policy by showing terrorist propaganda. Some say otherwise, but either way it is in bad taste to use the combination of graphic deaths and music for political gain. But this is not the only issue with this ad.
The CBC has requested that YouTube and Facebook take down this video in accordance with what CBC news editor Jennifer McGuire calls their “guiding principle”, which she describes saying “No one—no individual candidate or political party, and no government, corporation or NGO—may re-use our creative and copyrighted property without our permission. This includes our brands, our talent and our content.”
However, the University of Ottawa’s digital law professor Michael Geist says that, “The CBC is simply wrong. Its guiding principle is wrong and its attempt to use copyright to take down an offensive advertisement is wrong”. He argues that the clip does not violate Canadian copyright law since twenty-two seconds does not constitute a substantial amount, and that it has a valid claim to be used for educational purposes.
Using news footage in campaign advertisements is quite a common practice, which is why CBC’s request seems strange. McGuire also writes that, “when a TV clip of an interview of a party leader shows up in another party’s advertising edited in a way that shifts the context of the facts, this may cause viewer confusion and even suspicion about our journalism, and the intentions of journalists,” which seems like even more motivation to request the ad’s removal. However, is it possible that anti-Conservative sentiments are an ulterior motive? Or is this just another conspiracy theory?
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