LOS ANGELES — Singer-songwriter Jackson Browne is suing John McCain for using Browne’s song “Running on Empty” in a campaign ad — and the veteran rocker is also calling the candidate a pretender when it comes to standing up for constitutional rights.
Browne, one of rock music’s most famous activists for liberal causes, is “incensed” that the presumptive Republican presidential candidate has been using “Running on Empty” in campaign commercials, according to the singer-songwriter’s attorney. Browne filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against McCain and the Republican National Committee today in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles seeking a permanent injunction prohibiting the use of the song or any other Browne compositions, as well as damages.
McCain spokesman Brian Rogers says that the ad in question is not a McCain campaign ad but one put together by the Ohio Republican Party.
Browne’s attorney, Lawrence Iser, said the lawsuit “is not politically motivated. It’s a copyright infringement lawsuit, pure and simple, but the fact that Senator McCain has used this song in a hit piece on Barack Obama is anathema to Jackson.”
Iser claims that the McCain campaign has a track record of using music without permission.
“They used a John Mellencamp song until he made them stop and he used an ABBA song and a Frankie Valli song — it’s ridiculous and it’s setting a terrible example,” Iser said. “It’s shocking that they don’t even attempt to get permission. There’s no copyright difference between using a song to sell cars or by people running for president. The music industry continues to suffer due to lack of respect for intellectual property rights, and a candidate for president has a duty to lead by example and ensuring their campaign does as well. The copyright protections are derived from the Constitution itself.”
In the commercial in question, Obama is mocked for suggesting that the country conserve gas through proper tire inflation. The suit claims that use of the song violates the Lanham Act by falsely implying that Browne is associated with or endorses the McCain candidacy. The suit also claims the commercial violates Browne’s right of publicity under California law.
There have been a number of instances when performers have been angered by the use of their music by a politician. Bruce Springsteen cried foul when then-President Reagan, running for re-election, invoked the patriotic imagery of “Born in the U.S.A.,” a song that is actually a dark take on the fractured American dream.
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