Intellectual Property Law

Christopher Sprigman and Siva Vaidhyanathan, ?Cue ?Barracuda??

By Ann Bartow

Chris and Siva’s terrific Op-Ed ran is today’s Washington Post. Here are the opening paragraphs:

After vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin finished her big speech at the Republican National Convention, the 1977 song “Barracuda,” by the band Heart, blared out over the roar of the crowd. Convention organizers chose the music to highlight Palin’s high school basketball-team nickname, “Sarah Barracuda.” But Heart’s songwriters, Ann and Nancy Wilson, were less than pleased.

The sisters released a statement saying that “Sarah Palin’s views and values in no way represent us as American women” and insisted that the McCain-Palin campaign not play their song. Their publisher, Universal Music Publishing, and their label, Sony BMG, sent a cease-and-desist letter to the campaign.

Artists have frequently spoken out against John McCain’s presidential campaign for using their songs without their permission. Last week, the rock band Foo Fighters complained about the campaign playing its 1997 hit “My Hero” at rallies. Van Halen, which complained in 2004 when George W. Bush used its 1991 hit “Right Now,” has objected to McCain’s use of the same song. John Mellencamp complained about the use of his 1983 song “Pink Houses.” Warner Music Group demanded that McCain remove videos from YouTube that mock Barack Obama as a “celebrity” using the classic 1967 Frankie Valli song “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.” Jackson Browne filed a lawsuit to stop the Ohio Republican Party from using his 1977 hit “Running on Empty” to attack Obama on McCain’s behalf. …

Read the whole interesting thing here!

No Tags

Full post as published by Madisonian.net on October 13, 2008 (boomark / email).