In the summer of 2014, the Grote Markt was full of Orange fans watching the World Cup on a large screen. One of the matches was against Mexico, when Robben scored the penalty just before time, allowing the Netherlands to advance to the quarterfinals. Yesterday Geert Wilders, the leader of the PVV, distorted the images in his own video. The images have since been removed.
Joost van Keulen, alderman in Groningen at the time, is the creator of the video. He was shocked to see that Wilders had manipulated the images and was doing very well online. In the edited video, the crowd is not watching the match, but at rioting youths of Moroccan origin. They celebrated Morocco’s victories at the World Cup in recent days, in which it several cities became restless .
Lawyer engaged
In Wilders’ video, loud cheering ensues and people fall into each other’s arms drunk with euphoria. Not because of Robben’s penalty, but because the PVV leader reports on the big screen that all rioters must be expelled from the country.
That went down the wrong way with filmmaker Joost van Keulen. The former alderman thinks it’s terrible that Wilders manipulated his images for this message. He first sent an email requesting that his images be removed. When that didn’t happen, he called in Douglas Mensink, ICT law lawyer at MICTA from Groningen.
Clear message
The lawyer sent another email on Friday morning with a clear message: “Joost van Keulen has the copyright on the video, which he has placed on YouTube. According to YouTube’s terms of service, the video may be reposted within that platform, but with explicit acknowledgment of the source. Placing the video outside YouTube is out of the question anyway. Using the video is therefore an infringement of copyright. No permission has been granted. In addition, it is contrary to YouTube’s terms and conditions and Wilders infringes the rights of the maker by not attributing the name.”
The lawyer also points out that the video has been modified. “In addition, a political message is apparently greeted with approving cheers by the audience, which in reality is cheering for a Dutch goal. Not only is there copyright infringement, it is also fake news created. The adaptation of the video suggests that thousands of Groningen residents (the Grote Markt is very recognizable) support Wilders’ political message. This association is tendentious, incorrect and completely oversimplified.”
Reaction PVV: “Lesson learned”
Finally, the counsel points out that it is now being suggested that Joost van Keulen supports this political message. “Reuse suggests that the client has given permission for this,” and the latter is not the case, says Van Keulen.
Geert Wilders himself has not yet responded to the incident, although he has deleted the tweet. According to the spokesman for the PVV, it seems that it has been removed due to illegal use. When asked whether the party leader should have thought of that in advance, she says: “Good point. This is better prevented. We have learned the lesson.”