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Unauthorized Uses of Music in Campaign Ads
Candidates for public office have long sought to align themselves with popular cultural icons ' often in the form of musicians and their music. In the last Presidential campaign, music in campaign ads made legal headlines when singer/songwriter Jackson Browne sued over the unauthorized inclusion of his song and recording of “Running on Empty” in an anti-Obama campaign ad for Republican Presidential candidate John McCain. Browne v. McCain, 08-05334 (S.D. Calif.). There aren't many court rulings on music in campaign ads, though before being settled in 2009, Browne's suit resulted in several.
Then in June 2010, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California issued an opinion in a suit musician Don Henley brought over the unauthorized use of two of his songs ' with new, unauthorized lyrics ' in campaign ads for Chuck DeVore's bid for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate. In August, Henley and DeVore announced they settled that suit. But the Browne and Henley litigations arose during a recent spate of such campaign ad controversies. The issues in these cases can also apply to music incorporated without consent into product ads in general and in other media uses, such as in movies, TV shows and video games.
Lawrence Y. Iser, a partner in Los Angeles's Kinsella, Weitzman, Iser, Kump & Aldisert LLP, served as attorney for Jackson Browne in the McCain litigation and is counsel to musician David Byrne in a pending action against Florida Governor Charlie Crist that was filed after Crist used the Talking Heads' song and recording “Road to Nowhere” in Crist's campaign ad for the U.S. Senate. Byrne v. Crist, 8:10-CV1187 (M.D. Fla.). In the Q&A that follows, Iser responds to questions from Entertainment Law & Finance (ELF) Editor-in-Chief Stan Soocher about litigation and related issues regarding music in political ads.
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