The music copyright rip-off season (also known as GOP election season) has started again.
First candidate to get sued this season is Newt Gingrich for ripping off the song "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor.
Gingrich sued for using 'Eye of the Tiger' in campaign
January 30, 2012
Posted by
CNN Political Unit
The composer of the popular song "Eye of the Tiger" filed a copyright infringement complaint against Newt Gingrich on Monday.
Rude Music, Inc., owned by the song's co-composer Frank Sullivan, is suing the Republican presidential candidate for using the Grammy-winning song -—widely known as the anthem for the movie "Rocky III" - at events dating back to 2009.
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At a recent debate in South Carolina, Gingrich said, "We have a patent office, we have a copyright law. If a company finds that it has genuinely been infringed upon, it has a right to sue..."
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UPDATE #1:
Also mentioned in the LA Times:
Survivor songwriter wants Gingrich to stop using 'Eye of the Tiger'
January 31, 2012
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"We've tried to deal with them for months, and they've been trying to ignore it," said Sullivan's lawyer, Annette McGarry.
Gingrich has been associating himself with Rocky Balboa since at least 2009, and as recently as this month was using the song at campaign stops. Videos online (posted below) show Gingrich making dramatic use of the song's extended intro, with the candidate entering rooms from the back and walking through the crowd to "Eye of the Tiger's" signature guitar riffs.
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UPDATE #2:
Apparently, Gingrich's music pirating tastes are pretty eclectic. Last week he was also served with a cease and desist notice from a Canadian music publisher that represents the British band The Heavy for unauthorized use of their song "How You Like Me Now?":
Gingrich v The Heavy: Montreal company prepares to duke it out with Newt
Eric Cohen, Global News : Friday, January 27, 2012 5:10 PM
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Montreal lawyer Michael Solis feels this case is pretty clear cut.
“Most copyright acts, including the Canadian copyright act reserve the right of the presentation of a work in public to the copyright owner,” adding that he was surprised that Gingrich’s campaign team didn’t know that.
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Newt knows eveyrthing. Clearly he's got some sort of Big Idea up his sleeve that's going to teach those Brits a thing or two about American Exceptionalism.
I might be mistaken, but I think that makes Gingrich the first GOP International Music Pirate on my list of GOP scofflaws.
UPDATE #3
TMZ contacted the Gingrich campaign and got this response
"It is my understanding the band wants $200,000 because someone played their song. That's one expensive concert ticket."
Boy are they in for a rude shock when they find out it's pay the requested fee or lose the lawsuit and pay the penalty of $150,000 per unauthorized use (plus court costs).[1] That's why the politicians always back down and say their mea maxima culpas. Personally I hope Gingrich behaves like a big baby and fights it, cause I know he'll lose and it will cost him millions (given how many times he's already used the song). More likely, his advisers/lawyers will force him to pay and apologize or whatever. When Gingrich inevitably gets around to issuing his public apologies, he can use this official apology from Charlie Crist to David Byrne as a template:
[1]
17 U.S.C § 504 Remedies for infringement: Damages and profits IANAL, but I believe that if you lose a copyright-abuse civil suit it can in theory cost you as much as $150,000 for each unauthorized use of a song.
Here's my Compleat Playlist of GOP ScofflawsTM. Please let me know if I've missed any.
- Newt Gingrich (2012) vs
Frank Sullivan ("Eye of the Tiger")
Heavy ("How You Like Me Now?")
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/...
http://www.rollingstone.com/...
http://www.globalmontreal.com/...
- Michele Bachmann (2011) vs
Tom Petty ("American Girl")
Katrina and the Waves ("Walking on Sunshine")
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/...
http://www.rollingstone.com/...
- Rand Paul (2010) vs
Rush ("The Spirit of Radio", “Tom Sawyer”)
http://blogs.wsj.com/...
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/...
http://content.usatoday.com/...
http://www.courier-journal.com/...
- Charlie Crist (2010) vs
David Byrne ("Road to Nowhere")
http://www.cbsnews.com/...
http://journal.davidbyrne.com/...
- Joe Walsh (2010) vs
Joe Walsh ("Walk Away")
http://www.citmedialaw.org/...
- Chuck DeVore (2009) vs
Don Henley ("All She Wants to Do is Dance", "The Boys of Summer")
http://www.rollingstone.com/...
http://www.rollingstone.com/...
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/...
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/...
- 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://web.archive.org/...
http://www.eyesonobama.com/...
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/...
http://www.reuters.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.rollingstone.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/...