Just this past Tuesday, John McCain had to take down one anti-Obama ad after failing to get permission to use copyrighted material. Now he's done it again:Just this past Tuesday, John McCain had to take down one anti-Obama ad after failing to get permission to use copyrighted material. Now he's done it again:
NEW YORK - Singer-songwriter Jackson Browne is suing Republican presidential nominee John McCain and the Republican party for using his song “Running on Empty” in a recent TV commercial. [...]
“Not only have Senator McCain and his agents plainly infringed Mr. Browne’s copyright in ’Running on Empty,’ but the federal courts have long held that the unauthorized use of a famous singer’s voice in a commercial constitutes a false endorsement and a violation of the singer’s right of publicity,” Lawrence Iser, Browne lawyer, said.
I mean, this ain't rocket science -- you want to use a song, you call and ask for permission, and if they say no, you try another one. It's sad enough to watch John McCain run such a sleazy campaign with these incredibly cynical, negative ads. But it's embarrassing to see it turn into amateur hour, with staffers getting the campaign sued because they keep stealing other people's work.