KM Viray
The annual Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) is just around the corner and promotions are already underway.
Blogger Jonell Estillore, however, noticed that one particular ad the MMFF released was reminiscent of an ad for the Tribeca Film Festival in New York.
The Tribeca Film Festival was created to “enable the international film community and the general public to experience the power of film by redefining the film festival experience.” The Tribeca Film Festival was founded to celebrate New York City as a major filmmaking center and to contribute to the long-term recovery of lower Manhattan.
In the post, Estillore wrote “Nakakahiya po. [This is embarrassing.]” in response to how the logo was copied almost exactly and was even given a registered trademark.
Estillore said he had already emailed the MMFF about the said plagiarism. He was disappointed to hear that none of them took the responsibility of how the ad was posted in the first place.
In the comments section, a Gigi Mallillin introduced herself as someone from the MMFF Secretariat and said the image was never meant to be uploaded since the website was still under beta testing. She claimed that MMFF had its own brand and did not intend to infringe on Tribeca’s copyright.
Estillore replied that even so, there was no reason to copy the brand in the first place because it was just that: a brand.
Mallillin reiterated that the materials were really not intended to be posted while she skirted around Estillore’s question as to why copy the logo in the first place. Estillore, though, informed her that Tribeca had been informed about the plagiarized design and that they (MMFF) should expect an email from the foreign festival.
Netizen Cyril Constantino agreed with Estillore’s point about why the need to make the logo the same in the first place. “I think it’s a matter of… why create it in the first place? Why have it in their stock? Simply because, they wanted to use it. There is an intention by the fact that they have it with them. Hence, the excuses they give are not acceptable at all. Good job, Jonell! Hopefully Tribeca contacts them soon and that they learn a most valuable lesson.”
