UPDATE, Thurs., Aug. 21, 8:30 p.m.:
Spanish-language online news site AmeliaRueda.com reported Thursday night that following a backlash, TV4 has agreed to remove the promo containing Costa Rica’s National Anthem.
Original story continues here:
Costa Rica’s Foreign Ministry sent a formal complain to the Swedish Embassy protesting the “disrespectful use of Costa Rica’s National Anthem” on a political satire show on TV4.
The Costa Rican National Anthem can be heard as background music on a clip from the show “Parlamentet,” which the Foreign Ministry feels “is a grave disrespect to one of our national symbols,” according to the letter sent to the embassy for Central America based in Guatemala.
Tico expats in Sweden called the station and took to social media to express their disapproval, but the company responded by saying the audio is part of a sound library they bought from online music library service Epidemics. The website, strangely, cites someone named Magnus Ringblom as the anthem’s composer. But Costa Rica’s National Anthem was composed by Manuel María Gutiérrez in 1852.
Another person named Alejandro Castillo posted a complaint on the station’s website, and TV4 had a similar response:
Hi. Alejandro. Thank you for your feedback. We regret that you felt insulted. It is in fact Costa Rica’s national anthem in the trailer. However, there is no connection whatsoever to the country or its inhabitants. Neither the government or its political values. The music is taken from Epidemics music library and is free to use.
Have a nice evening!
Foreign Minister Manuel González Sanz on Thursday told local radio show “Nuestra Voz” that an international intellectual property registry does not exist to permit countries to take legal action in cases where national symbols are allegedly misused.
However, the ministry letter asks officials at the Swedish Embassy to help in persuading producers of the show to withdraw the anthem from the promo.
Watch and listen to the promotional video, courtesy of AmeliaRueda.com, here:
