Tarkanian asked to stop using footage of rival in ads
Congressional candidate Annette Teijeiro’s attorney has sent Republican rival Danny Tarkanian a cease-and-desist letter demanding that his campaign stop using footage of Michael Roberson in a campaign ad that Tarkanian launched Monday.
Teijeiro’s campaign shot the footage at a debate for Republican candidates in the 3rd Congressional District race and posted it on social media. Roberson, Teijeiro and Tarkanian are all GOP candidates in the CD-3 race.
The letter, written by Teijeiro’s attorney Steven Sertich and sent Tuesday, accuses Tarkanian of “unlawful copying” of the Teijeiro campaign’s copyrighted footage. The letter asks Tarkanian to stop using the “copyrighted work” within 10 days.
The footage shows Roberson, also Nevada’s state Senate majority leader, holding up a sheet of paper and saying, “Look at my accomplishments.” That loop plays several times as Tarkanian’s ad criticizes Roberson.
The ad doesn’t mention or show Teijeiro.
Tarkanian campaign manager Jamie Fisfis called the letter a “sideshow,” adding that the clip from a “publicly posted video of a public event falls well within First Amendment protections and fair use doctrine.”
The spot started airing this week in the Las Vegas market of Fox News Channel.
“Dozens of political ads every year use news or video snippets,” Fisfis said in an email. “We’ll gladly accept the additional attention given to this powerful ad.”
Teijeiro sees it differently.
“Tarkanian has shown his true colors,” she said, adding that the candidate should know better because he’s an attorney. “He understands that he shouldn’t be stealing people’s video.”
If Tarkanian wants footage of Roberson, she said, he should hire someone to follow him around with a camera at public events instead of using her video.
“Why does he have to steal my video?” Teijeiro said. “If you start off stealing now, what are you going to do after you’re elected?”
Contact Ben Botkin at bbotkin@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2904. Find him on Twitter: @BenBotkin1
