Don Henley won his suit against California GOP candidate Chuck DeVore for ripping off two of his songs ("All She Wants to Do is Dance" and "The Boys of Summer") http://www.rollingstone.com/...
David Byrne sued Charlie Crist to make him stop using "Road to Nowhere" http://www.cbsnews.com/...
after the jump, more GOPers who have no respect for musicians and their songs
Other notable rip-offs:
- Joe Walsh (2010) vs
Joe Walsh ("Walk Away")
http://www.citmedialaw.org/...
- Chris Christie (2009) vs
Monty Python ("It's The Mind" skit)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
- McCain-Palin (2008) vs
Heart ("Barracuda")
Foo Fighters ("My Hero")
Van Halen ("Right Now")
Orleans ("Still The One")
John Mellencamp ("Our Country", "Pink Houses")
Jackson Browne ("Running On Empty")
Gretchen Peters ("Independence Day")
ABBA ("Take a Chance on Me")
Bill Conti ("Theme from Rocky")
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/...
http://popnewsdaily.com/...
http://www.eyesonobama.com/...
http://thresq.hollywoodreporter.com/...
http://www.boston.com/...
- Eric Cantor (2008) vs
Aerosmith ("Back in the Saddle")
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/...
- Mike Huckabee (2008) vs
Boston ("More Than a Feeling")
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/...
- Bush-Cheney (2004) vs
Orleans ("Still The One")
http://www.eyesonobama.com/...
- Bush (2000) vs
Tom Petty ("I Won’t Back Down")
http://www.pophistorydig.com/...
- Bob Dole (1996) vs
Isaac Hayes ("Soul Man")
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/...
- Bush (1988) vs
Bobby McFerrin ("Don't Worry Be Happy")
http://www.nationalpost.com/...
- Reagan-Bush (1984) vs
Bruce Springsteen ("Born in the U.S.A.")
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
- Goldwater-Miller(1964) vs
David Merrick ("Hello Dolly")
http://books.google.com/...
http://www.time.com/...
IANAL, but I believe that if you lose a copyright-abuse civil suit it can in theory cost you $100,000 $150,000 for each unauthorized use of a song. (Title 17 § 504)