[Dixielandjazz] Gingrich & Romney Violating the Copyright Laws

[Stephen G Barbone]

Excerpted from a NY Times article:

G.O.P. Candidates Are Told, Don’t Use the Verses, It’s Not Your Song

NY TIMES - By JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr.


Let’s say you’re a Republican running for president.

You’re looking for a rousing pop anthem to pump up your troops and  
underscore your message. There’s plenty of music out there, but you  
have a problem . . .

Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich were forced this week to stop using  
songs at their rallies after songwriters complained that the campaigns  
had played the pieces without permission. Strike another two songs  
from the Republican playlist: “Eye of the Tiger,” by Survivor, and  
“Wavin’ Flag,” by the Somali-born musician K’naan.

“When you think about every iconic song that has emotional resonance  
for millions and millions of Americans, in almost every instance,  
Republican candidates can’t use the song because the artist is not  
supportive,” said Steve Schmidt, a Republican campaign strategist who  
was Senator John McCain’s campaign manager in 2008 and worked on the  
re-election campaign of President George W. Bush. . . .

It seems that every campaign season the issue of politicians’ use of  
pop songs without permission crops up, often with partisan overtones.  
And with the Internet making it easier for musicians to track the use  
of their songs, and with the country’s politics becoming more bitterly  
divided, more musicians are making legal complaints and prevailing.

In 2008 Jackson Browne successfully sued Senator McCain and the Ohio  
Republican Party for using his hit “Running on Empty” as the music for  
a campaign ad attacking the energy policies of Barack Obama. He won an  
undisclosed cash settlement and a public apology from Senator McCain.  
Two years later David Byrne sued Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida for  
using the Talking Heads’ “Road to Nowhere” in a commercial attacking  
his opponent Marco Rubio. The governor paid an undisclosed penalty and  
post a videotaped apology on the Internet.

Because the politicians paid damages, the suits against Senator McCain  
and Governor Crist were a turning point, political strategists and  
copyright experts said. Before, there had been little incentive for  
campaigns to seek permission, since legal actions were rare. Until the  
recent cases, the only risk to the candidate was a spot of bad  
publicity.

“Because nobody sued, the candidates always thought they could get  
away with it, and they still think that today,” said Lawrence Iser, a  
copyright lawyer in Los Angeles who represented Mr. Browne and Mr.  
Byrne. “What did you get? You got some publicity. You got a takedown  
letter. Typically the campaigns would stop using the piece.”

The pace of complaints has picked up since 2008, when Ann and Nancy  
Wilson, the core of Heart, formally complained that Sarah Palin was  
using their hit “Barracuda” as a theme song without their permission.  
Last year Tom Petty forced Representative Michele Bachmann to quit  
using his song “American Girl” at her events by sending her a letter.

In 2010 Don Henley, a longtime supporter of Democratic candidates, won  
a copyright lawsuit against Chuck DeVore, a conservative California  
Republican candidate for the Senate. Mr. DeVore had used satirical  
lyrics set to the backing tracks of Mr. Henley’s “Boys of Summer” and  
“All She Wants to Do Is Dance” to attack his opponent, Senator Barbara  
Boxer.

In the last month, Mr. Gingrich has been accused twice of violating  
copyright laws, first for playing “How Do You Like Me Now?” by the  
Heavy at a rally in Tampa, Fla., and then for using “Eye of the Tiger”  
by Survivor at several political events, going back to 2009.

Frankie Sullivan, a former member of Survivor who helped write “Eye of  
the Tiger,” also went after Mr. Romney for playing the anthem at  
rallies, but Mr. Romney’s campaign backed down and promised not to use  
it again, he said. Mr. Sullivan sued Mr. Gingrich this week, arguing  
he had violated copyright law not only by playing the song at rallies,  
but also by posting videos with it on YouTube.

The suit argues that Mr. Gingrich, the author of more than 40  
copyrighted works, should have known better. That became fodder for  
the comedian Stephen Colbert, who invited the original singer from  
Survivor, Dave Bickler, on his television show on Thursday to sing a  
passage from one of Mr. Gingrich’s books to the “Eye of the Tiger”  
melody.

Mr. Sullivan said a song could lose value if it became entwined in the  
public’s mind with the politician, he said. “My motives have nothing  
to do with politics,” he said. “It’s one of my babies, and I’m just  
exercising the laws of this great country.” . . .

K’Naan, the Somali-born rapper who lives in New York, said his motive  
for asking Mr. Romney to stop using “Wavin’ Flag,” an international  
hit in 2009, was purely political. He first learned from fans that Mr.  
Romney had played the song to pump up supporters at a victory rally in  
Florida this week. Right away he was deluged with Internet messages  
accusing him of selling out to a conservative politician. . .

Andrea Saul, a spokeswoman for Mr. Romney, said the campaign had  
stopped using K’naan’s song out of respect for his political views,  
even though the campaign bought blanket licenses from two public- 
performance societies — Ascap and BMI — which pay royalties to members.

Experts on copyright law said such licenses, usually bought by  
restaurants and other businesses that play recorded music, do protect  
the campaign from many copyright complaints, but a politician can  
still be sued under the federal trademark law for false advertising if  
the use of the song implies that the musician has endorsed the  
candidate.

Choosing a song for a candidate is a tricky process, strategists said.  
Campaigns generally use music for two purposes. The first is the  
obvious need to motivate supporters. But the second is to underline a  
candidate’s message. Bill Clinton did this in 1992 with the Fleetwood  
Mac song “Don’t Stop,” with its chorus, “Don’t stop thinking about  
tomorrow,” seemingly without complaint.

Conservative candidates have a more difficult time finding anthems,  
unless they turn to country stars. Politicians from Reagan to Ms.  
Palin have used Lee Greenwood’s “Proud to Be an American,” and Gov.  
Rick Perry of Texas made use of Toby Keith’s “American Ride” in his  
recent Republican presidential campaign. . . .