Intellectual Property Insights from Fishman Stewart
Volume 20, Issue 17
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Stop Using My Song At Your Campaign Rally!
By Julie Greenberg
Everyone has seen on TV, or attended, campaign rallies blasting popular songs to fire up
the crowd. Think about Bill Clinton piping Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop Thinking About
Tomorrow” or Ronald Regan’s famous use of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.”
Most recently, “Y-M-C-A” was heard at Donald Trump’s rallies, with Trump getting his
groove on, pumping his fists and doing his dad-dance to the 1978 Village People ditty.
But what happens when The Village People objects to a candidate’s use? What about
when the Tom Petty estate objected to the use of “I Won’t Back Down” at the controversial
indoor Pandemic-defiant Trump Tulsa Rally? What about when Bobby McFerrin objected
to George H.W. Bush’s use of “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”? What about when Jackson
Browne sued John McCain for using “Running on Empty”? And, finally, what about the
very long list of
musicians objecting to Donald Trump’s use of their music, including The
Rolling Stones, Neal Young, Adele, Tom Petty, Queen, Phil Collins, Elton John, among
others?
The Answer: It's not so easy for an artist to prevent a political rally from using a song, but
it is not impossible.
The considerations: Legally, copyright infringement actions in these circumstances are
hard to win. Most venues (hotels, convention centers, stadiums, etc.) provide the
campaigns with performance rights under the venue’s own blanket public performance
license rights through ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers),
BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc), and the like. Thus, the campaigns can generally rely on the
licenses of the leased venues and do not need the artists’ direct permission.
Increasingly, however, many ASCAP and BMI licenses have made it possible for artists to
withdraw permission for certain political uses. Likewise, some venues expressly exclude
political rallies from using the venue’s blanket licenses.
Even with a license in place, some artists have relied on claims such as Right of Publicity,
Trademark Infringement and False Endorsement in attempts to prevent a campaign from
associating with the artist.
With legal avenues questionable, and costly, perhaps the most effective tactic for an artist
to disassociate from a campaign is to use its celebrity megaphone: publicly denounce the
candidate and condemn the attempt to exploit the artist’s music.
Of course, there's always the bottom line to consider: When Victor Willis of the Village
People saw royalties for his YMCA song skyrocket this fall, he retracted his complaint and
granted the Trump campaign a retroactive license. As Kenny Rogers would say ♪ ♫ “You
gotta know when to hold’em – know when to fold ‘em.” ♫ ♪
Our New Look
Welcome to our new and improved Fish Tank® newsletter. You may have noticed some
changes. Our fish mascot has a new look, and the article formatting will now appear more
consistent across your devices. Other than aesthetics, everything is right where you
remember it, and archives of our prior editions are still available
HERE. You can expect
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Client News
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