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Business News Legal
Survivor man sues US presidential hopeful over song use
By CMU Editorial | Published on Tuesday 31 January 2012
Another American politician is being sued for using a song on the campaign trail without the songwriter’s permission, though it’s not certain how successful this particular legal attack will be.
According to TMZ, Rude Music, the company of Survivor guitarist and songwriter Frankie Sullivan, has sued Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich, for the former congressman’s use of his song ‘Eye Of The Tiger’ at political rallies. Sullivan co-wrote the track in 1982 as the theme for ‘Rocky III’.
Sullivan’s lawsuit reportedly accuses Gingrich of violating his copyright by playing the song at his rallies, and is seeking an injunction to stop its use.
Sullivan is by no means the first artist to hit out at a politician for using one of his songs as a campaign tool, with many musicians fearing that the use of their tracks by political types implies some sort of endorsement. Artists in both the US and UK have complained about the use of their songs in this way, though its only really Stateside that said artists threaten legal action.
The problem for Sullivan, though, is that where legal threats have worked in the past the offending politician has used a song in some sort of online content, usually syncing the song to a video. That’s a more straightforward case of copyright infringement. But if venues where political rallies take place have public performance licences from the US collecting societies – Sullivan is an ASCAP member – then the presidential wannabes are probably covered copyright-wise if they only use songs at live events.
Though few politicians would enjoy the prospect of facing off a popular musician in court during campaigning season, so it may be that Sullivan’s lawyers know a mere threat of action will be enough to persuade Team Gingrich to compile a new soundtrack, even if copyright law is not especially on their side.
