Jackson Browne sues McCain over song use
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Singer-songwriter Jackson Browne is suing presidential nominee Senator John McCain and the Republican Party for using his song Running On Empty in a recent TV commercial.
In the suit, filed in the US District Court in Los Angeles, Browne claims Senator McCain and the party did not obtain permission to use the song for an ad in which "Senator McCain and the Republicans mock Democratic candidate for president Barack Obama for suggesting that the country conserve gas through proper tire inflation".
Browne, a lifelong Democrat, is seeking unspecified damages as well as a permanent injunction prohibiting the use of Running On Empty in any form by Senator McCain's campaign.
"Not only have Senator McCain and his agents plainly infringed Mr Browne's copyright in Running On Empty, but the federal courts have long held that the unauthorised use of a famous singer's voice in a commercial constitutes a false endorsement and a violation of the singer's right of publicity," Lawrence Iser, Browne lawyer, said.
- Reuters
