Jackson Browne, Republicans settle case

[meegbear]

Source: AP

Sen. John McCain and the Republican Party are apologizing to Jackson Browne for using one of his songs during last year's presidential campaign. The GOP is also vowing to get artists' permission before using musicians' work in future political campaigns.

The apology and pledge were released Tuesday along with an announcement of a settlement with Browne over a federal copyright infringement lawsuit filed last year in Los Angeles. Browne sued McCain and the national and Ohio Republican parties for using part of his song "Running on Empty" to mock Democrat Barack Obama's proposed energy policies in a Web ad.

Financial details of the settlement weren't disclosed.

The statement said McCain didn't know about the ad, which was created by the Ohio Republican Party and removed after Browne complained.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gktFJ6p5uZOp90bxuJxhGTfc2pqgD99ISLL01

[Sukie]

1. Sweet. Good for Browne. n/t

[hamsterjill]

2. Yeah, Jackson!

Now I hope he donates the money to Democratic candidates!!! That would be REAL payback to the Repukes!

[godai]

3. GOP: Runnin on Empty n/t

[jmondine]

33. McCain, The Pretender

[jmondine]

34. The GOP and lobbyists: Lawyers in Love

[wordpix2]

37. LMAO

[wordpix2]

38. maybe Jackson will donate it to Dems for an ad against repukes next time around

that would be justice. :)

[xxqqqzme]

4. A rethuglican vow - wonder what that's worth?

Jackson Browne an all time fave.

[SpiralHawk]

6. Doodly squat

Republicons don't do honor or integrity, as they continually demonstrate.

[zbdent]

21. make sure you get it in cash ...

and even then, make sure it's not counterfeit ...

[MaineDem]

5. THis makes me feel really good!

Copyrights mean something. I'm glad Browne pursued this.

[moggie]

7. Oh, they're vowing?

That's all right then, because the GOP's vows can totally be trusted.

[HopeHoops]

8. The GOP convention should be funny with such a short play list.

I mean how many Pat Boone songs can you play before everyone barfs? They can throw in some Ted Nugent once in a while to break it up a little, but it still sounds like a boring party.

[tjwash]

15. Come on now...they have Wayne Newton too.

Isn't he the current holder of the soul-train lifetime achievement award?

[HopeHoops]

18. And they can probably get away with Percey Faith also.

They might even be able to slip in some Hank Williams tunes.

[No Elephants]

35. Country music will help them out. Not the Dixie Chicks or Tim McGraw, but

many others. And, of course, Jessica Simpson and Brittany Spears. Brittany, after all helped out Bob Dole in his campaign.

His ad campaign, that is.

[mopinko]

9. psst- meeg

some of us think there are way too many kittens around here anyway.

[meegbear]

10. ...

:cry:

[mopinko]

43. i know.

but still....

[felinetta]

11. Great!

[demoborn47]

12. Just so you know Repugs

99% of the good musicians are liberal. Good luck getting any decent music from Rascal Flats or some other awful pop country cookie cutter BS.

[Joey Liberal]

13. Nice! nt

[David Zephyr]

14. Jackson Browne is such a talented fellow. I love his music, his voice and, of course, his outlook.

Jackson's determination to fight back against the GOP took guts and I truly admire him for it.

This is the sort of risky stand that few artists are willing to take: risk alienating audience for what you believe in. John Lennon never blinked when it came to courage either.

Jackson's voice is so dreamy and while The Pretender is my all-time favorite song of his, I am still crazy about Lives in the Balance.

[snake in the grass]

16. Are Ann and Nancy Wilson pursuing the same? n/t

[sfwriter]

19. Do they even own Baracuda?

They might not. It may be corporately held.

[National Steel 27]

20. You're right

Howard Leese and Michael somebody wrote it, if memory serves me (which it rarely does).

I never really cared for the band, but Howard is a friend of mine. There would have been no "Heart" without Howard (who hails from Houston, by the way).

[snake in the grass]

25. Such a shame.

I would have loved for the Thugs to get hit again. What about Orleans with "Still the One"? They were stealing tunes with impunity.

[National Steel 27]

32. They have done it for years.

And every damned time, they use music from Leftie 'writers.

And every damned time, it's always, "Gee, we are so sorry. You mean we were supposed to get permission?".

Pricks.

[JonLP24]

40. Very true about using songs from Lefty writers

I hate the constant mis use of the country song "Independence Day" written by Gretchen Peters and sung by Martina McBride. Hannity also used or possibly still uses it(I don't know I never listen to his show) as a theme song for his radio show. The song is about a woman leaving an abusive relationship hence the meaning "Independence day."

They also used the song as an intro for Sarah Palin and Gretchen Peters had this to say,

<snip>
"The fact that the McCain/Palin campaign is using a song about an abused woman as a rallying cry for their vice presidential candidate, a woman who would ban abortion even in cases of rape and incest, is beyond irony," Peters said. "They are co-opting the song, completely overlooking the context and message, and using it to promote a candidate who would set women's rights back decades.”

Of course, any candidate can use any song he or she wants at a political rally, as long as the required public-performance royalties are paid. (Songs used in TV commercials are another matter, and require the artist’s consent.)

The song had already been adopted as the theme song for “The Sean Hannity Show,” the nationally syndicated talk program hosted by the conservative political commentator. As a result, Peters increased her donations to organizations including the American Civil Liberties Union; Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) and Moveon.org.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/soundboard/2008/10/independence-da.html

She also goes on to say she is going to donate all royalties from the song to Planned Parenthood in Sarah Palin's name.

[Tarc]

30. The Wilsons also have writing credits for the song

according to the wiki entry anyways; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barracuda_(song)

[No Elephants]

39. I believe they did object, but someone else had legal rights to license the song.

Maybe something like ichael Jackson's owning the Beatles's songs.

I could be thinking of another song, but I think it was Heart.

[PSzymeczek]

17. Just like in '84

when St. Ronnie of Raygun tried to co-opt "Born in the USA"...

[RoadRage]

22. So, does this mean that Lady Ga-Ga GAVE permission for them to

turn her "Just Dance" song into "Just Tax"? Somehow.. i think not.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/

[Joanne98]

23. Did they apologize to Heart yet?

[cureautismnow]

24. JB should have let McCain use The Pretender instead.

That's all he was.

[cbdo2007]

26. I hope the financial settlement was substantial, cause this kind of stuff can really ruin someone's

reputation. Imagine if McCain/Palin had won and you were forever linked to them and to "helping" them win.

The settlement needs to be large and a warning to these people in the future.

[JohnnyRingo]

27. As I understand it, anyone can use a short clip of a song

We hear Limbaugh use very short portions of songs by artists who would spit in his face if he met them all the time.

In the case of political candidates, they pay ASCAP fees which loosely allows playing of copy-written songs at rallies, just like jukeboxes in bars.
The tricky part for the pols is that they don't want to agitate someone who is good with words and the ability to rewrite a hit song that slams the candidate. McCain and his cohorts in the party were wise to settle.

Upsetting musicians can also drive the artist to tour with the other candidate, an unwanted outcome to be sure. By the same token, the Dems should also be careful not to upset popular musicians like... uh....lemme think.... there has to be someone... Nugent? Pat Boone?

[John Kerry VonErich]

44. As a matter of fact

there are 2 lawsuits still pending over using their songs for bumpers on conservative radio. Tom Morrello of Rage Against the Machine is wanting (or has) starting an org. to protect artists songs fron going into the wrong hands after their music was used to lure out possible terrorist suspects.

[AlphaCentauri]

28. Should Obama get permission to use his song "Stay" for his re-election?

maybe yes, if Obama does good in his first term

[Diane R]

29. Wow. That would be a perfect song!

[AlphaCentauri]

31. ...And the union don't mind, If we take a little time, And we leave it all behind and sing....

hopefully for his re-election many things will be accomplish, all those reforms needed and the end of the wars.

[wordpix2]

36. I'm hoping Jackson socked it to the repukes big time. Isn't it just like them to steal

whatever they can and then say they didn't know? Shades of, "I didn't know a war in Iraq wouldn't be a cake walk; I didn't know Saddam didn't have WMD."

At least this time, JB didn't let the aholes get away with it.

Thanks to Jackson for standing up to the repukes :puke: and for artists everywhere. :applaud: :hooray:

Would love to know how much Jackson settled for.

[No Elephants]

41. OK. You don't always have to get the permission of either the artist or the

writer(s) or the label. Apparently, under certain circumstances, you can pay ASCAP. And that's what happened with Heart and Barracuda.


http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1594443/20080909/heart.jhtml

[cureautismnow]

42. Lol... From the article, it actually helped Obama.

"While the Wilsons are clearly upset, "Barracuda" co-writer and former Heart guitarist Roger Fisher (Nancy's ex) has a different outlook. He's happy to receive the publicity, he told Reuters last week, and he pledged to give part of the royalties from the song's use to Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's campaign."

Obama appreciated your support, McCain.

:rofl: