You May Want to Reference the ASCAP Guidelines Before Incorporating Copyrighted Music into Your Political Campaign
August 2, 2020
If you haven’t heard yet, there is a big election coming up in November, and we’ve all heard about the disputes that arise around the use of music in political campaigns. Political campaigns enjoy using popular songs in online ads, radio ads, television ads, campaign videos, and at rallies. However, the proper permissions or licenses must be obtained because these songs are generally protected by copyrights. Failure to do so could lead to liability for copyright infringement, or even legal claims related to rights of publicity, trademark dilution, and false endorsement.
To assist with these compliance issues, ASCAP issued a set of guidelines that political campaigns can reference to avoid this liability. See Using Music in Political Campaigns: What You Should Know, ASCAP.COM, https://www.ascap.com/~/media/files/pdf/advocacy-legislation/political_campaign.pdf (last visited July 21, 2020). If a political campaign would like to incorporate a song within a video, then a proper license with the song’s publisher and/or the artist’s record label must be negotiated. And if the video or sound recording has been made for an advertisement, the TV station, radio station, or website, must have a “public performance” license to play the song. A “public performance” license is also required to play the song at a campaign event. Without the proper licenses, the campaign risks liability for copyright infringement.
ASCAP is a performing rights organization that represents “more than 11.5 million musical works from over 725,000 songwriters and composers and their music publishers.” Id. at 1. The license required to incorporate or play that song may be available through ASCAP, so it’s a good place to start to obtain the permissions required. Although the musician may later criticize or sue the campaign for use of his or her song at the political rally (i.e., violation of an artist’s right of publicity, trademark dilution, false endorsement), at least the campaign may dodge copyright infringement claims.
Words of wisdom from RegitzMauck – be careful out there and always respect the copyrights of others.
RegitzMauck PLLC is an intellectual property boutique based in Dallas, Texas. The firm focuses on providing value-based legal services to cost-conscious clients seeking high quality legal representation in intellectual property and technology matters and disputes.