Tom Petty’s cease-and-desist letter

If anyone has any doubts why musicians shouldn't be politically active after reading this thread, well...

Greg for Supreme Overlord of the Universe!
 
I'm not talking about the guys who have been openly political with their art and their views from the start of their careers...I can accept that...

Jackson Browne certainly has been political for a long time. (I did a search, and JB's name is apparently in this thread, somewhere, but I am not gonna wade through five pages...) From his Wikipedia page:

Although a liberal Democrat, Browne appeared in several rallies for presidential candidate Ralph Nader in 2000, singing "I Am a Patriot" and other songs. He participated in the Vote for Change tour during October 2004, playing a series of concerts in American swing states. These concerts were organized by MoveOn.org to mobilize people to vote for John Kerry in the presidential election. Browne appeared with Bonnie Raitt and Keb' Mo', and once with Bruce Springsteen. During late 2006, Browne performed with Michael Stanley and J. D. Souther at a fundraiser for Democratic candidates in Ohio. For the 2008 Presidential Election, he endorsed John Edwards for the Democratic Presidential Nomination and performed at some of Edwards' appearances. After Barack Obama clinched the Democratic nomination, Browne endorsed Obama...

Browne is part of the No Nukes group which is against the expansion of nuclear power. During 2007, the group recorded a music video of a new version of the Buffalo Springfield song "For What It's Worth"...


(I love this one:)
During August 2008, Browne sued John McCain, the Ohio Republican Party, and the Republican National Committee for using his 1977 hit, "Running on Empty", in an attack advertisement against Barack Obama without his permission.[10] In July 2009, the matter was settled under an undisclosed financial agreement with an apology from the McCain campaign and other parties.[11]:D:p
 
Minor copyright aside: while you can generally play whatever song you want at a rally (if you just pay the standard licensing fee for the composition to ASCAP or BMI or SESAC), licensing a song for a TV ad is different. Such licenses usually need to be negotiated, can be costly, and it isn't unusual for composers and artists to exercise some control over what products or things the song is being used to promote.

It's fairly surprising that someone with remotely savvy advertising and legal people working for him would accidentally use a song in an ad without the appropriate licenses.
 
Minor copyright aside: while you can generally play whatever song you want at a rally (if you just pay the standard licensing fee for the composition to ASCAP or BMI or SESAC), licensing a song for a TV ad is different. Such licenses usually need to be negotiated, can be costly, and it isn't unusual for composers and artists to exercise some control over what products or things the song is being used to promote.

It's fairly surprising that someone with remotely savvy advertising and legal people working for him would accidentally use a song in an ad without the appropriate licenses.







Yes you see this all of the time and they change the words within the song to fit the product!
 
Yes you see this all of the time and they change the words within the song to fit the product!

Or just use the part they like and not play the parts with lyrics they don't like, like when Bowie's "Heroes" got used in a commercial. They used the line "We can be heroes" but left out "just for one day".
 
The worst is the Tommy Hilfiger commercial where they used Credence. It's all American Flags and apple pie and the only line they use is "Some folks are born to wave the flag, oh their red white and blue" then they cut all the rest of the lyrics which is hilarious because the whole song is about how those people are full of shit...
 
Ya know, I've been thinking about something related to this... Interesting how conservatives (most of 'em, at least) just HATE it when performers take a political stand and use their celebrity as a bully pulpit- but you mostly only see this kind of political activism on the left. I'd bet if more performers who did it were conservative, the conserv's would probably all over it, like white on rice.

Of course, in that alternative universe, the lib's would probably hate it as much as the conserv's do, now.
 
A simple answer for these people wanting to play music at their campaigns is to visit HomeRecording.com and hire all of us basement recording artists who will be more than happy to not only write and record some music for them for nothing but a name credit, but we'll also advise them who to put in the Cabinet and how to balance the budget for free.
 
Which aspect of Jagger's voting record do you believe qualifies as "right wing"?
This is Sir Michael Phillip Jagger we are talking about, right ? The one that was described by surprized establishment figures as a "right wing libertarian" ? The one the left wingers said they never took seriously as any kind of street fighting man ?
That all said, being right wing is neither a crime or a bad thing but sometimes among artists it seems to be equated with being so.
 
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