China fancies itself a maverick, but it might be just a goose.

China's state-run television media outlet CCTV recently came under fire for the misuse of a scene from Top Gun in a broadcast. The network was airing a segment about the country's fighter jets, and apparently thought it needed a little more excitement that only a Tom Cruise movie could provide.

The segment, covering the People's Liberation Army's Air Force, included footage of the J-10 fighter jet soaring through the clouds. In one spot, a J-10 fires off a missile, and CCTV then shows an exploding jet from Top Gun. Smartly, it doesn't leave in the next scene where Tom Cruise celebrates.

State-run Chinese media outlets have been criticized in the past for inappropriate use of intellectual property, and quite obviously it's just happened again. In this day and age, I think it'd be pretty tough to convince anyone that the explosion shown on CCTV was real. CCTV has reportedly removed all links to the Top Gun story, but hasn't admitted to any wrongdoing.

The whole situation is beyond silly. It'd be like if U.S. media did a story on the war in Iraq and spliced in footage from Rambo. At the same time, I'm a little impressed by the gusto of someone at CCTV.

Thanks for the tip Amarante228!

Source: Wall Street Journal