If not, I'm not sure what his complaint would be, since he agreed to give up ownership rights.
Of course, the MSM will point out that Bachman doesn't have Petty's support to use her own campaign music every chance they get, so it probably is best to just drop it for Michelle.
The Standard Contract for Singer-Songwriters is the Publisher gets half the profits, and the Composer gets the other half. The Right to License belongs to the Publisher, and the funds for the performances are monitored by performance rights organizations such as ASCAP or BMI. DJ’s and Venues (as well as the Artists themselves) pay dues to the performance Rights Companies. Every Bar, Gym, Fitness Club, Nightclub, and theater belong and pay dues, in order that the Publisher and The Artist get paid for their intellectual Property.
Irving Berlin got both slices of the Pie by forming his own Publishing Company, which subscribes to ASCAP. ASCAP has been known to sue the BOY SCOUTS for singing “God Bless America” without a license. After a precedent like that, you can BET that The Republican Party would NOT play a song without first paying for the license.
As to whether or not Petty owns 100% of the rights to his songs, I really don’t know, but if it were the case, he would have to be his own publishing company and have issued and distributed all of his recordings under his own label. Even Bob Dylan wasn’t smart enough to do THAT! LOL.
I wouldn’t. It’s time conservatives stop trying to placate the media. Ain’t gonna happen. If she paid for the rights to the song, then let them squawk. I heard the song yesterday on the news while she was campaigning in Iowa, and I thought, “Oh, oh. Watch Tom Petty complain.”