I'm not sure how true it is but I always heard Apple was very outspoken about how they never payed for product placement. What they would do was give away just about any Apple product to just about any production. And especially more than a few years ago Apple had some of the more photogenic devices so studio went with them for onscreen usage. You'll see them listed in lots of show credits as "hardware provided" or similar.
If this is true I bet that it was a condition of the giveaway relationship Apple has with studios.
Maybe Apple sues them for something like slander / liable (bad guys use X product) or misuse of Copyright?
Though I don't agree the above should be ethically possible; they're the ones that put that logo on everything. Similarly I don't think buildings or statues in public view should be copyright. They've been placed on display in public.
I'm not a lawyer either but slander and libel involve false statements. Using an iPhone isn't a false statement.
I'm not sure how you misuse a copyright. But there is no copyright involved here. Trademarks maybe, but you aren't selling it.
I know the concept is a little foreign to the crowd on hacker news, but quite a lot of the world runs on building up relationships rather than on laws or software. Apple enforces this sort of thing because film makers most likely don't want a bad relationship with Apple.
Apple can enforce this, because what Rian Johnson was talking about is product placement. Rian was annoyed he couldnt give iphone to a baddie and still be paid for it.
How would this work for stories where there's no good or bad guys? Or stories where the protagonist is the "bad" guy (like The Joker)? Does apple get to read the story and then determine which characters best fit their company's morals?
If I was a filmmaker, I would be tempted to give an iPhone to the baddest baddie child murderer/molester/cannibal character I could come up with. Just on a principle.
I saw a HP product-placement in the movie The Foreigner (nee, The Chinaman) It was a laptop bomb rigged to blow up a plane, and I did think it was a little strange to see the start-up logo so prominently. But I guess any press is good press...
16 comments
[ 3.4 ms ] story [ 35.9 ms ] threadEdit: I don't think they can enforce this if someone goes and buys an iphone. If they provide the hardware or pay for product placement then they can.
If this is true I bet that it was a condition of the giveaway relationship Apple has with studios.
Maybe Apple sues them for something like slander / liable (bad guys use X product) or misuse of Copyright?
Though I don't agree the above should be ethically possible; they're the ones that put that logo on everything. Similarly I don't think buildings or statues in public view should be copyright. They've been placed on display in public.