Jon Bon Jovi Wants McCain-Palin to Stop Using His Music

Rock superstar Jon Bon Jovi has added his name to an ever-growing list of artists unhappy with the use of their music by the McCain-Palin presidential campaign. Bon Jovi, who is an avid Democrat and Barack Obama supporter, asked the McCain camp to stop using his song "Who Says You Can't Go Home."

Jon Bon Jovi And Foo Fighters Ask McCain Camp To Stop Playing Their Music

In a statement, Bon Jovi said: "We wrote this song as a thank you to those who have supported us over the past 25 years. The song has since become a banner for our home state of New Jersey and the de facto theme song for our partnerships around the country to build homes and rebuild communities."

Last week, the post-grunge alternative rock band Foo Fighters told the Republican candidate they would like for his campaign to stop playing their music. Foo Fighters have asked the McCain campaign to stop using their song, "My Hero," which has been getting prominent play at McCain speeches.

The Associated Press reports that Foo Fighters released this statement: "The saddest thing about this is that `My Hero' was written as a celebration of the common man and his extraordinary potential. To have it appropriated without our knowledge and used in a manner that perverts the original sentiment of the lyric just tarnishes the song."

Brian Rogers, a McCain-Palin spokesman, told the Associated Press, "The McCain-Palin campaign respects copyright. Accordingly, this campaign has obtained and paid for licenses from performing rights organizations, giving us permission to play millions of different songs, including `My Hero.'"

Jon Bon Jovi and Foo Fighters are not the only artists to have contacted the McCain camp to desist in playing their songs.

Other Artists Have Asked As Well

John Mellencamp aked them to stop using "Our Country" and "Pink Houses." Back in 2000, he asked the Bush camp to stop playing "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A." Bush was also asked not to play "Brand New Day" by Sting and "Won't Back Down" by Tom Petty (who backed Hillary Clinton in this year's primaries).

Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart asked them to stop using "Barracuda" after it was played so prominently at the Republican National Convention after Sarah "Barracuda" Palin gave her acceptance speech. Heart made national headlines with their condemnation of the use of their music. In fact, Universal Music Publishing and Sony BMG, Heart's record labels, sent a cease and desist order to the McCain camp.

Frank Sullivan, guitarist for the band Survivor, has also asked the McCain-Palin ticket to stop playing their song "Eye of the Tiger." Sullivan told E! News, "Survivor has no affiliation with John McCain or Sarah Palin."

Sullivan went on: "They have no right to use 'Eye Of The Tiger' in any way as part of their campaign. Using our music without our permission can give people the impression that we are supporters of their campaign-this is not the case. In light of this happening before, we would hope that the McCain/Palin camp would go through the proper channels in asking for permission for use of the song. Obviously once again they have chosen to disrespect artists' rights."

Jackson Browne, the acclaimed singer and songwriter who was once considered becoming a member of the Eagles, filed a lawsuit against the Republican National Committee for using "Running On Empty" in a political ad slamming Senator Obama in Ohio. Browne is a lifelong Democrat.

Browne's lawyer, Lawrence Iser, said in a statement that he was confident the musician will win the case, calling the ad copyright infringement, a "false endorsement" and a "violation of the singer's right of publicity." He continued: "In light of Jackson Browne's lifelong commitment to Democratic ideals and political candidates, the misappropriation of Jackson Browne's endorsement is entirely reprehensible, and I have no doubt that a jury will agree."

Jackson Browne is seeking unspecified damages.

Other Candidates Have Been Asked

And there have been other candidates asked to desist playing certain artists' music.

Boston founder and guitarist Tom Scholz asked that ex-Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee stop doing "More Than A Feeling" with his band Capital Offense after he jammed with ex-Boston guitarist Barry Goudreau during the Republican primaries. Scholz told the campaign, according to the Associated Press, that: "Boston has never endorsed a political candidate and with all due respect, would not start by endorsing a candidate who is the polar opposite of most everything Boston stands for. In fact, although I'm impressed you learned my bass guitar part on 'More Than a Feeling,' I am an Obama supporter."

Sam Cooke, the singer/songwriter who wrote the classic "Soul Man," asked Senator Barack Obama to stop using his song for his campaign.

The New York Times reports the tradition of artists asking that their songs not be played by certain political candidates began in 1984 when Bruce Springsteen commented on the Reagan campaign's use of "Born in the U.S.A." Springsteen told Rolling Stone that Reagan was exploiting the need of Americans to feel good about the country.

Who Has The Rights?

But the artists may simply have to just be happy with a public statement that they don't support the candidates. Blanket licenses to play millions of songs are paid for by political campaigns. As long as the songs are licensed by the agency, campaigns (and any other entity, for that matter) can play any title, regardless of artist preference.

Still, there is something to be said about an artist's wishes in these matters. It becomes a matter of courtesy.

There are millions of songs licensed by ASCAP and other agencies. Is it that difficult for the McCain-Palin ticket to find songs for their campaign's background music that they cannot honor the wishes of a few artists that just do not want their music associated with their particular campaign?

Actually, it is not.

In fact, there are several artists that endorse, support, and perform at Republican political events. Brooks and Dunn, Hank Williams Jr., and others. What is wrong with using their music? Or even commissioning an original song? The point remains that there are millions of songs by millions of artists. Surely the McCain-Palin campaign can find artists that don't object?

Sean Michaels of the Guardian suggests the McCain campaign take advantage of unknown artists like those prevalent on YouTube. Although much of the stuff on YouTube isn't complimentary to either candidate, some of it is. Perhaps the McCain camp could get some of these lesser known artists permission.

McCain-Palin have a lot more to worry about than whether or not a rally background song is by an artist that supports their campaign. Like winning a national election. Professional courtesy would dictate that if an artist objects to the use, then the song should be pulled from the rally or event soundtrack. It is something that Senator McCain or Governor Palin should not be getting bad press about.

Pull the song. Then just replace it. Problem solved.

Then again, problem solved unless you are running out of artists. Surely the McCain-Palin ticket aren't running out of artists...

Sources:

NYTimes.com

Eonline.com

Guardian.co.uk

Boston.com

Associated Press