Performance Anxiety: Rock Musicians Fighting Political Misuse of Their Work

No one dares deny the power of rock music to move millions.

Which is why politicians have become so adept at latching on to the cultural imprimatur such music conveys.

But rock musicians are increasingly demanding that politicians and political commentators whose views diverge from their own 'cease and desist' from adopting their work to promote ideas they find abhorrent.

From 'Wont Get Fooled Again,' to 'Let's Stay Together,' with 'Eye of the Tiger' and 'Dont Stop Thinking About Tomorrow' thrown in for good measure, rock standards have been grabbed by politicians eager to signal how they relate, no matter how far from those underlying messages their actual agenda may be. And that is why musicians are lawyering up to reclaim their intellectual property, justly fearing that permitting such usage will be perceived as an endorsement.

The legal reality is that 'public performance' doctrine permits the use of such music by pretty much anyone who wants it for such purposes. However, the musicians are taking stands to assure that their professional and personal reputations are not conflated with concepts or messages at odds with their own. Perception is reality. JL

Margaret Wappler reports in the Los Angeles Times:

During any election season, politicians and rock stars will have their scuffles. So far, we've seen Tom Petty send a letter to Michele Bachmann, asking her to knock off with playing "American Girl." By the way, the song was formerly used on the campaign trail by 2008 presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton. (Both seemingly ignored the racy "make it last all night" part of the song.) Survivor songwriter Frankie Sullivan filed a lawsuit in January against Newt Gingrich for using "Eye of the Tiger" while stumping, after months of asking the Republican presidential candidate to put it to rest. This underdog anthem was also used in 2008 by Sarah Palin at a North Carolina rally. Geez, can't any of them find an original song?
In the wake of Rush Limbaugh's attacks on Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke last week, nearly 50 advertisers have fled his show, including Netflix and AOL, undeterred by the fiery announcer's subsequent apology in which he regretted his choice of words but little else.

First the money walks, now it's the music. Rush, Peter Gabriel and the Fabulous Thunderbirds have all demanded that their music immediately stop appearing on Limbaugh's program. (And lest you think it's confined to rockist quarters, the Philadelphia Orchestra, which bought a package of ads through CBS Philly, has also "taken steps to ensure that our ads no longer run on the Rush Limbaugh show," according to its Twitter feed.)

If you watch Limbaugh's now-infamous remarks, he uses Gabriel's "Sledgehammer" to introduce his labeling of Fluke as a "slut" and a "prostitute." As for the others, Rush's prog epics and the T-Birds' "Tuff Enuff" have been used on Limbaugh's show as bumper music for years now. For the record, Pop & Hiss would like to point out that these songs aren't exactly fresh. Are Wayne and Garth working as Limbaugh's music programmers?

But this flap between the classic rockers and radio's biggest flap-jaw has a different set of issues to contend with. According to attorney Larry Iser, who went to court to remove Jackson Browne's "Running on Empty" from John McCain's attack ad on Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election, the use of songs on the radio falls under blanket agreements for "public performance."

Iser told Rolling Stone that radio networks such as Premiere, which syndicates "The Rush Limbaugh Show," all have public performance licenses that allow them access to all songs in the publishing catalogs of ASCAP, BMI and, in the band Rush's case, SESAC, the Society of European Stage Authors & Composers. In other words, Limbaugh is within his legal rights to play his favorite seduction jams of the '80s, if he wants to.

But as Iser points out, the decrying from Gabriel, Rush and Thunderbirds singer Kim Wilson, who said he was "mortified" by Limbaugh's statements, is essentially designed to publicly shame Limbaugh into not playing the music anymore, regardless of legalities.

Shame is a tactic that Limbaugh is familiar with, of course. It was exactly what he tried to do to Fluke and, by extension, millions of American women who use birth control. Is he "tuff enuff" to get a taste of his own medicine?