Quote:
Originally Posted by drofgnal
How about all the politicans who without permission use copyrighted songs for campaign themes. Before her campaign imploded Michelle Bachman had to be reminided by Tom Petty that 'American Girl' was copyrighted material and asked her to stop using it! Others have done so as well.
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I don't believe he was pointing out that it was copyrighted; her campaign had probably paid for a license to use it. (The fees are fairly standardized; it's a simple thing to do.) But having the songwriter come out in public and say "I don't support you nor your campaign" makes it a bad idea to use the song; odds are, the performer is better-liked than the politician, and any gains from using a popular song are offset entirely when the performer denounces that use.
The NOM campaign people had the same problem with a Peter Paul & Mary song--the performers couldn't prevent them from using it, but they could make
public statements that they hated the campaign and didn't endorse it.
Most politicians can't afford to face off in public against rock stars. It's bad press, not copyright infringement.