Legal News

Browne v. McCain: Political Rocker Sues Politico Over ?Running on Empty?

By Dan Slater

Honey you really tempt me
You know the way you look so kind
I’d love to stick around but I’m running behind
You know I don’t even know what I’m hoping to find
Running into the sun but I’m running behind — Jackson Browne, “Running on Empty“

Singer Jackson Browne at a rally against the Iraq war in downtown Los Angeles, Jan. 27, 2007. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

We missed the ad in question, but according to an attorney for rocker Jackson Browne, the Ohio Republican Party and John McCain ran an ad recently that used Browne’s 1977 song “Running on Empty” without his permission.

Yesterday, Browne reportedly filed a copyright infringement suit against both McCain and the Republican National Committee in U.S. District Court in L.A. seeking a permanent injunction as well as damages. Here’s a report from the L.A. Times’ Top of the Ticket blog.

A McCain spokesman told the LAT that the ad in question is not a McCain campaign ad but one put together by the Ohio Republican Party.

Sen. John McCain sings God Bless America at an Arizona Diamondbacks game, May 4, 2008. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Browne’s attorney, Lawrence Y. Iser believes otherwise: “We have sued the Ohio Republican Party as well, and we have been informed and believe that McCain and his campaign were well aware of the ad.” Iser said the lawsuit “is not politically motivated. It’s a copyright infringement lawsuit, pure and simple, but the fact that Sen. McCain has used this song in a hit-piece on Barack Obama is anathema to Jackson.” (The LAT notes that Browne gave Obama $2,000 shortly after he won his Senate seat in 2004 and another $2,300 in March.)

The LAT reports that, in the commercial in question, Obama is mocked for suggesting that the country conserve gas through proper tire inflation. The suit claims that use of “Running on Empty” violates the Lanham Act by falsely implying that Browne is associated with or endorses the McCain candidacy. The suit also claims the commercial violates Browne’s right of publicity under California law.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on August 15, 2008 (boomark / email).