Want to use ‘The Greatest’ by Sia for your political rally? Better ask first

Pollies are on notice. Ask permission for the songs played at your rallies or in campaigns, or else. 

The U.S.-based Artist Rights Coalition, a not-for-profit advocacy for the artist community, is demanding both ends of the political spectrum do the right thing and ask before “using their music in a political or campaign setting.”

Adelaide native and Rolling Stone Australia cover star Sia Furler and NZ chart champion Lorde have signed up to the ARC’s open letter, addressed to the Democratic and Republican National, Congressional, and Senatorial committees.

Other giants of the rock and pop world signing-on include Green Day, Alanis Morissette, Aerosmith, Mick Jagger, Pearl Jam and Cyndi Lauper.

“Like all other citizens,” the letter reads, “artists have the fundamental right to control their work and make free choices regarding their political expression and participation.
It continues, “Using their work for political purposes without their consent fundamentally breaches those rights – an invasion of the most hallowed, even sacred personal interests.”

Musicians hate few things more than being tarnished by association.

Trump’s team almost certainly can’t count the number of cease-and-desist demands they’ve received after playing unauthorised music at campaigns and rallies. That long list includes Pharrell Williams, Rihanna and Linkin Park.

Sometimes, lawyers get involved. In one memorable case dating back to 2017, Eminem’s reps launched a legal battle against New Zealand’s conservative National Party for their use of a ‘Lose Yourself’ rip-off for an ad campaign. Em went and won a substantial payout, and the media had a field day. 

The Artist Rights Coalition insist their letter, issued less than four months out from the presidential election, is a bi-partisan approach.

Many artists “have spent a lifetime making music that we all know and love,” the coalition explains in a statement.

“At the very least,” it continues, “it should be their choice – especially in these hyper-partisan times. With so many creators raising concerns about this issue, it is time to take action and ensure our voices are heard.”

Keep a look out for Australia’s music community to band together with a similar message ahead of the next federal election. 

Read the letter in full below.

Dear Campaign Committees:

As artists, activists, and citizens, we ask you to pledge that all candidates you support will seek consent from featured recording artists and songwriters before using their music in campaign and political settings.  This is the only way to effectively protect your candidates from legal risk, unnecessary public controversy, and the moral quagmire that comes from falsely claiming or implying an artist’s support or distorting an artists’ expression in such a high stakes public way.

This is not a new problem. Or a partisan one. Every election cycle brings stories of artists and songwriters frustrated to find their work being used in settings that suggest endorsement or support of political candidates without their permission or consent.

Being dragged unwillingly into politics in this way can compromise an artist’s personal values while disappointing and alienating fans – with great moral and economic cost. For artists that do choose to engage politically in campaigns or other contexts, this kind of unauthorized public use confuses their message and undermines their effectiveness. Music tells powerful stories and drives emotional connection and engagement – that’s why campaigns use it, after all! But doing so without permission siphons away that value.

The legal risks are clear.  Campaign uses of music can violate federal and (in some cases) state copyrights in both sound recordings and musical compositions. Depending on the technology used to copy and broadcast these works, multiple exclusive copyrights, including both performance and reproduction, could be infringed. In addition, these uses impact creators’ rights of publicity and branding, potentially creating exposure for trademark infringement, dilution, or tarnishment under the Lanham Act and giving rise to claims for false endorsement, conversion, and other common law and statutory torts. When campaign commercials or advertisements are involved, a whole additional host of rules and regulations regarding campaign fundraising (including undisclosed and potentially unlawful “in-kind” contributions), finance, and communications could also potentially be breached.

More importantly, falsely implying support or endorsement from an artist or songwriter is dishonest and immoral. It undermines the campaign process, confuses the voting public, and ultimately distorts elections. It should be anathema to any honest candidate to play off this kind of uncertainty or falsely leave the impression of an artist’s or songwriter’s support.

Like all other citizens, artists have the fundamental right to control their work and make free choices regarding their political expression and participation. Using their work for political purposes without their consent fundamentally breaches those rights – an invasion of the most hallowed, even sacred personal interests.

No politician benefits from forcing a popular artist to publicly disown and reject them. Yet these unnecessary controversies inevitably draw even the most reluctant or apolitical artists off the sidelines, compelling them to explain the ways they disagree with candidates wrongfully using their music. And on social media and in the culture at large, it’s the politicians that typically end up on the wrong side of those stories.

For all these reasons, we urge you to establish clear policies requiring campaigns supported by your committees to seek the consent of featured recording artists, songwriters, and copyright owners before publicly using their music in a political or campaign setting. Funding, logistical support, and participation in committee programs, operations, and events should be contingent on this pledge, and its terms should be clearly stated in writing in your bylaws, operating guidelines, campaign manuals, or where you establish any other relevant rules, requirements, or conditions of support.

Please let us know by August 10^th how you plan to accomplish these changes.

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.