The National Party removed a large number TikToks featuring movie content a week after Newshub contacted several major film studios questioning whether the political party had permission to use their material.
TikToks deleted included excerpts from films like Finding Nemo, Star Wars, The Batman and Minions, as well as television shows like Breaking Bad, The Office and The Walking Dead.
Last month, Newshub asked Disney, Universal, Sony, and Warner Bros Discovery (which also owns Newshub) whether the National Party had permission to use the content, and if not, whether their use was a breach of copyright and if legal action was being considered.
Newshub hasn't received confirmation from the studios that its questions led to the TikToks' being scrubbed, but a week after Newshub's emails, the National Party deleted videos featuring the film and television content.
Newshub contacted the National Party on Wednesday about why it removed the TikToks, but it did not respond until Thursday afternoon.
"We have no comment to make on this."
Newshub asked National leader Christopher Luxon on Wednesday if the party had more copyright issues.
"Not that I am aware of," he replied. "We have a great social media programme. We are embracing technology intelligently, like artificial intelligence as we have talked about before. I think that's brilliant."
Luxon said New Zealand needed to embrace technology to improve productivity.
Newshub revealed last month that National was using artificial intelligence to create fake photos for its political ads. That included creating images of fake health workers and criminals.
National's deputy leader Nicola Willis on Thursday referred questions about whether it had permission to use the film content to the party.
Willis said her and Luxon "set very clear expectations that we expect the law to be followed".
Other political parties, such as ACT and the Greens, have used television and film content in meme formats on social media.
An ACT Party spokesperson said it only ever uses others' content "in passing" and "usually as part of internet meme culture".
"We believe our material is fair use, but if there are any specific objections we will deal with them on a case by case basis."
A Green Party spokesperson said it hadn't sought permission to make memes.
"Like many other people and organisations, the Green Party sometimes remixes popular memes to communicate with the public, particularly young people. Thousands of organisations around the world, including many in Aotearoa, find that the 'meme' format is a unique, fun, and effective way to communicate online."
National has had issues with copyright in the past.
The party was found in breach of copyright in 2017 for using the 'Eminem Esque' song in a 2014 campaign advertisement that rapper Eminem's label said was a rip-off of his 'Lose Yourself'.
The party was initially ordered to pay the record companies $600,000, but this was reduced to $225,000 in the Court of Appeal. Eight Mile Style and Martin Affiliated tried to get that increased in the Supreme Court, but had their leave to appeal declined.
Steven Joyce, who was National's campaign manager when 'Eminem Esque' became problematic, reckoned its use was "pretty legal" at the time.
Last year, Newshub revealed National had pulled an Instagram video that used a Katy Perry song. The company behind the song asked the party to remove it.
"Our social media team adapted a TikTok trend for Instagram reels, which used Menulog’s audio out of context. Menulog asked us to remove the video, which we did immediately," a National Party spokesperson told Newshub at the time.
