[Virginia Ridgerunner]

Same nonsense that Heart tried to play on Sarah Palin when the McCain Campaign played "Barracuda" at the 2008 GOP convention.

Heart to McCain/Palin: Back off on 'Barracuda'

These "artists" seem to be under the impression that they still own their songs rather than the record companies, which sell packages to radio stations, advertisers, campaigns, etc.

Paul should tell them to pound sand...

[dfwgator]

I do think Rush owns their songs.

Speaking of the other Rush, he pays Chrissie Hynde to play “My City was Gone.” Chrissie hates Rush, but she’ll take the money.

[RobRoy]

I am no expert, but I seem to recall some sort of “time clip” limitation regarding copyright. That is, if you play less than 10 seconds of a song or something like that, you can treat it like public domain.

This is just some distant niggling memory though and I could have gotten it wrong.

[OldDeckHand]

"These "artists" seem to be under the impression that they still own their songs rather than the record companies, which sell packages to radio stations, advertisers, campaigns, etc."

It depends entirely on the artist and their contractual agreements with their label. Some do own, outright, they're copyrights. Others own either a portion, or none at all. Yes, they do sell these distribution packages, but they don't lose they're copyright, just like a movie producer doesn't lose his copyright when a signs with a movie distribution company.

The law is well-settled here. If the copyright owner doesn't want it played someplace (depending on certain circumstances), it won't be played. Many artists have prevailed at trial in precisely these kinds of political campaign suits.

[ncdrumr]

Ann and Nancy didn't want the McCain camp using Barracuda because A&N are libs. But Ann and Nancy aren't the only writers of that song. The original guitarist and drummer both came out and supported the use of it, even though they very likely did not vote for McCain. I believe they said something like it's a kick-ass song and we get our royalties, so what's the big deal? My respect for them went way up after that (and I'm a huge fan of Heart's music). LOL!

[dmz]

Except that it appears that the case is a bit different this time.

“Farmer, general counsel for the Anthem Entertainment Group Inc. in Toronto, which is RUSH’s record label, has sent a letter to Paul campaign officials informing them that they have violated copyright laws — and urging them to stop.”

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=141023