“Running on Empty” (Jackson Browne)
Continuing on a theme, yet another musician is pissed off at the John McCain campaign for appropriating a song without permission. You’d think such copyright stalwarts would have learned to ask first. Silly kids, laws are for Republicans to break.
Jackson Browne sued Sen. John McCain on Thursday for unauthorized use of one of his songs in a television commercial.
Browne, one of rock music’s most famous activists for liberal causes, is “incensed” that the presumptive Republican nominee for president has been using Browne’s signature 1977 song “Running on Empty,” said Lawrence Y. Iser, the singer-songwriter’s attorney.
Browne filed a copy- right infringement lawsuit against McCain and the Republican National Committee in U.S. District Court in L.A., seeking damages and a permanent injunction prohibiting the use of the forlorn arena anthem or any other Browne composition.
…
Browne’s attorney said that he is “informed and believes” that McCain approved the ad.
[From Jackson Browne sues Sen. John McCain for unauthorized use of ‘Running on Empty’ — chicagotribune.com]
Luckily, I was able to write this entire post without using a pun based on Jackson Browne’s song, Lawyers in Love.