Originally Posted by
elZorro
More from the court case: the hearing continues today. After the first two weeks of airing the ad, the important two weeks, when it was played on air 180 times, the Nats pulled the ad and released it again with a track that was original, for that they paid two composers $18,000.
They paid a licence fee to an Australian outfit to use the Cohen track, but unfortunately the fee doesn't cover the risk for being sued by any other party who feels their copyright has been infringed. The Nats can afford a decent penalty being awarded, so they are in court. It seems that other outfits have used the Cohen copy track, probably not so publicly, and they've gotten away with it.
So in a bid to gain instant recognition of their TV advert, the Nats have made a classic mistake and taken a couple of shortcuts they are known for. Paying a very small amount for a close copy of the track, and going ahead because they didn't want to pay for a lawyer either.
It's just like a lot of their policies, which have an impression of being made up on the fly.