"For The Fifth Time, McCain Campaign Illegally Uses Artists’ Copyrighted Music"
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Last night at the conclusion of the GOP convention, the Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) campaign blasted the song “Barracuda” by Heart. The tune is meant to be a theme song for Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK), whose high school nickname was reportedly “Sarah Barracuda.” Watch a clip of Republicans rocking out to the song:
The problem is that the McCain campaign never obtained legal permission to use the song. Heart’s representative issued a statement:
The Republican campaign did not ask for permission to use the song, nor would they have been granted that permission. We have asked the Republican campaign publicly not to use our music. We hope our wishes will be honored.
Last month, McCain released his technology policy, in which he promised to “protect the creative industries from piracy.” Yet as ThinkProgress has reported previously, McCain has infringed on artists’ copyrights on at least four other occasions:
- In August, singer Jackson Browne sued the McCain campaign and the Ohio Republican Party for copyright infringement because his song “Running on Empty” was used in an ad by the state party. Browne’s lawyers said that “McCain and his campaign were well aware of” this fact.
– In August, the McCain campaign re-cut a web ad after comedian Mike Myers’s publicist complained about the use of footage of Myers and fellow Saturday Night Live alum Dana Carvey’s “Wayne’s World” characters.
– In July, the McCain campaign had to pull and re-cut a web ad after Frankie Valli’s record label, the Warner Music Group, asserted its copyright claims over the use of the song “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You.”
– Earlier this year, the copyright owners for the “Rocky” theme song “telephoned the McCain campaign to politely complain it was being used without permission.”
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