If you’re looking for smiles today, go find an intellectual property rights advocate. Their latest champion, Jackson Browne, won a hard-fought apology from Senator John McCain yesterday following 10 months of litigation for the GOP’s unlawful use of his 1977 hit, “Running on Empty.”
Outspoken and politically left-leaning, nobody should have ever messed with Browne, and you can imagine his surprise when, back in August 2008, the hard-line Dem rocker’s classic anthem began showing up in Ohio and Pennsylvania on a TV commercial mocking Obama’s energy plan.
But even more puzzling, after hearing Browne’s complaint, McCain’s camp responded with a two-motion retort. The first sought to have the charges dismissed, citing fair use of the song with its “acknowledged cliché” for a title. Lawyers told the court that McCain was actually doing Browne a huge favor by giving the obscure song new life. The ad “will likely increase the popularity of this 30-year-old song,” they stated. And just when you thought it couldn’t get any richer: The second motion was a counter-suit, with McCain’s lawyers seeking monetary damages, alleging that Browne purposefully interfered with the McCain’s right to free speech by publicly challenging his use of the song.
Imagine if Obama started using Lee Greenwood‘s postmodern country chestnut ”God Bless the USA” as his State of the Union theme song. It’s an interesting idea. Since the early 1980s, the soundtrack for practically every Republican endorsement has featured a song performed by a card-carrying Democrat. Remember Ronald Reagan’s spin on Springsteen’s “Born in the USA,” which turned essentially and anti-war song into a nationalistic anthem and flew over the whole nation’s head? This was long before the birth of concepts like intellectual property.
But the 2008 election season in particular featured an unprecedented tsunami of copyright infringement and a roster of disgruntled artists that included Van Halen, Heart, Bon Jovi, the Foo Fighters, Orleans, Boston and John Mellencamp. These were the biggies. In an especially emotional response to one case of song theft, songwriter Gretchen Peters — who penned Martina McBride’s country hit “Independence Day,” a song about an abused woman — took all royalties earned from the song throughout the election and donated them to Planned Parenthood under the name “Sarah Palin,” encouraging others to join in the fun.
Out of the above batch of artists, the majority were forced to send cease-and-desist orders to the McCain campaign, while Jackson Browne filed the only lawsuit. For his efforts, in addition to the public apology, an undisclosed cash amount was also awarded. Although it’s nothing groundbreaking, the ruling will likely influence Don Henley’s almost identical case against Republican Senatorial candidate Charles DeVore. In an attempt to unseat Sen. Barbara Boxer, DeVore began running TV ads in 2008, parodying Henley’s hits, “Boys of Summer” and “All She Wants to Do Is Dance,” without permission, even after Henley asked him to stop. When Henley filed a complaint with YouTube, execs immediately removed the content. However, DeVore just as quickly re-posted it.
“We’re responding with a counter-claim, asserting our First Amendment right to political free speech,” DeVore sallied back on his website. (DeVore’s motion to dimiss was denied on July 8). “While the legal issues play out, it’s time to up the ante on Mr. Henley’s liberal goon tactics. By popular request, I have penned the words to our new parody song.”
The title?
“‘All She Wants to Do Is Tax,’” said DeVore.
Photo courtesy of John Edwards 2008, via Flickr.