Tuesday, June 28, 2011

You Stay Classy, Republicans!

Our brethren and, uh, cistern on the right got caught stealing again.

“NBC News: @TomPetty unhappy with Michele Bachmann’s use of ‘American Girl’ and in process of issuing [a cease and desist] letter,” Matt Ortega reported on Twitter only hours after hours after Bachmann used the popular song to kick off her campaign.

NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell confirmed that report Monday night.

“And details matter, and when Bachmann left the stage here, her campaign played the Tom Petty hit song, ‘American Girl,’” O’Donnell said. “Turns out petty isn’t pleased. His manager says they will ask the Bachmann campaign not to use that song.”

Petty also issued a cease and desist letter to then-Governor George W. Bush for illegally using “I won’t back down” at his rallies.

Look, dudes, it's not our fault all you got is Ted Nugent. Run the country on "Wango Tango": it's a more reasonable platform than you have now.

15 comments:

The Phantom Creep said...

Hey -- I love Wango Tango!
:-)

jackd said...

US Highway 441, mentioned in "American Girl," runs through my hometown, which always makes me feel a little connection even if Petty's almost certainly talking about somewhere down in Florida.

Anonymous said...

The Beach Boys just sang at Reagan's grave. Maybe Bachman can work with that.

AP

Phillydog said...

Yay, Tom! Thank you for speaking out.

I am stunned that there are folks out there who seriously believe that Bachmann is a serious contender for that office. The presidency requires & deserves so much more than what current potential candidates are offering.

So when will The Nuge announce that he's running? God save us.

Gardner said...

Oh my goodness. Another embarrassment, right up there with George Wills' laughable, self-serving, incorrect interpretation of "Born in the USA."

Or maybe not, since MB and her ilk seem immune to embarrassment....

Thanks, TP, for calling her out.

Anonymous said...

She paid her royalties, she can use a Petty song. Petty or any other libtard songwriter can't pick and choose which licensee uses the music once they make it available for use.

Anonymous said...

Politicians of all stripes need to leave rock and roll the fuck alone.

Remember, these squares are the kiss-ups from student council etc all grown up now.

dave™© said...

"She paid her royalties..."

Apparently not.

You can fuck off anytime now, you piece of fucking shit.

NYMary said...

Anonymous1,
While I don't necessarily endorse trademark Dave's tone, the content of his comment is correct: a Cease and Desist order would not be possible had permission been granted. And yes, you do need permission for this sort of thing.

As to your own tone: please reference the title of this post .

Brooklyn Girl said...

You can fuck off anytime now, you piece of fucking shit.

Nice to see Michele has her little trollies combing the web, desperate for any mention of her name.

Thomas Paine said...

Nice to see Michele has her little trollies combing the web, desperate for any mention of her name..

I'm sorry; I missed something. Does Brooklyn Girl not see that the author of this bon mot opposes Ms. Bachmann?


And before the trademarked Dave r anyone else heaps abuse on me, let me establish my anti-Bachmann bona fides: she is an ignorant, dangerous slut.

There -- I said it.

Clarence Darrow said...

errata: please excise the word she from the second line of my third substantive paragraph.

Thank you, your honour. . . .




Word Verification: plessy

NYMary said...

Not seeing Clarence's full comment here (I certainly didn't delete it), though he raises a perfectly valid point: a cease-and-desist letter (which was issued Monday, is not a cease-and-desist order, which must come from a judge and has not been issued at this point. If the Bachmann campaign stops using the song, the latter won't be necessary. Thanks for the clarification.

And yes, if a person pays, theoretically they should be able to "publish" (i.e., use a song, paying appropriate royalties) at will. However, the law has tended to side with artists when such use implies endorsement: David Byrne sued Charlie Crist last year for using "Road to Nowhere" in his campaign; they settled, but Crist had to apologize on youtube. So there is some precedent for saying that an artist can deny use when it implies endorsement of a position or candidate they find distasteful/offensive/batshit insane.

And Brooklyn Girl knows where trademark dave stands: they were both replying to the oh-so-2003 "libtard" poster above.

Clarence Darrow said...

Hmmm -- my comment disappeared twice.


I am sorry that this happened.

I'm sure that it was brilliant.


And NY Mary -- I am aware of the suits, and of the YouTube apology that flowed from the settlement with Byrne. I merely suggested that, in the absence of settled law (or even an appellate decision), the artists' rights to inhibit or extinguish undesired use is far from settled.

My best to you and yours, and to all the readers of PowerPop.

Anonymous said...

I never saw the term "libtards" before. Great name for a band.

AP