Back in October I wrote a little bit about the political licensing of music, following the issues that came up with the McCain campaign’s use of songs both in a live context (likely to be legally sound, based on the unique licensing situation of PRO blanket licenses) and for campaign commercials (not likely to be okay, because commercials generally need an independently negotiated license). The issue has come back to light today (and really, yesterday) when Republican Congressman Eric Cantor posted a video online bragging how no Republicans approved of the stimulus bill in the house. The soundtrack to the video? Aerosmith’s 1977 “Back in the Saddle.”
Turns out, despite the fact that Joe Perry is a known Republican, Aerosmith’s publisher Stage Three Music (which, by the way, also holds the catalogue of The Decemberists, Macy Gray, and The New Radicals) didn’t think the song was appropriate, and had it taken down off YouTube.
From Talking Points Memo:
The GOP’s use of the tune “was something we, as the publishers, didn’t approve and would not have approved without going to the writers,” Connie Ashton, director of copyright and licensing at Stage Three, told me. “Aerosmith did not approve of its use and also wanted to have it taken down,” she added.
Seems like this is more or less and open and shut case. This is much more like licensing a song for a commercial (which the GOP found out the hard way does require an independently negotiated license) than a public performance at a campaign stop (much more likely to be allowed through a blanket PRO license). It will be interesting to see if there is any more fallout as a result of this. This has been a tough week for Cantor’s office; he just got out of the hot water over a different video he distributed.
You can see a glimpse of the campaign video here. It kicks in around the 0:27 mark:
joe perry’s a republican? bestill my beating heart…
Comment by meredith — 20 February 2009 @ 10:51 am |