Did Republicans Illegally Use "Barracuda" At The RNC?
Photo: Getty Images
Heart had, erh, heartburn on Thursday after the Republican National Convention used "Barracuda" when introducing Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) as the party's vice presidential nominee on Wednesday. In a written statement, the band asserted that "Heart did not and would not authorize the use of their song at the RNC." That makes it sound like the RNC violated copyright, doesn't it?
But Heart spoke a little bit too soon. You see, organizations don't have to go directly to the copyright holder to get permission to use their work. They can get a license from ASCAP, the American Society for Composers, Authors and Publishers. (Someone should tell the London Guardian editorial writers this inconvenient truth.)
According to The London Telegraph (and the Guardian), that's exactly what the the Republican National Convention did. A spokesman says that the RNC "paid for and obtained all necessary licenses" from ASCAP for all the music used at the event.
Assuming that the RNC did indeed get an ASCAP license (and why wouldn't they?), then they could legally use the song, assuming it's in the ASCAP database. (It is.)
ASCAP "licenses the right to perform songs and musical works created and owned by the songwriters, composers, lyricists and music publishers who are ASCAP members..." It's not clear to me which agreement would be used by a political organization... but in their brochure, "ASCAP Keeps You In Tune With Copyright Law" (pdf available here), ASCAP writes:
All public performances, even most non-profit ones, must be licensed... Although you can obtain permission directly from the copyright owner, it is generally less expensive and more convenient to obtain it through ASCAP.
More from the ASCAP website:
Through ASCAP, in one simple transaction, businesses can obtain the right to perform the millions of songs created or owned by more than 330,000 of America's and hundreds of thousands of the world's best songwriters, composers, lyricists and publishers. Founded in 1914, and still owned by and managed for its writer and publisher members, ASCAP grants businesses the permission they need to perform music publicly. The money collected is distributed, after deducting operating costs (currently 11.9%), directly to ASCAP members and to affiliated foreign performing rights organizations for their members.
I'm guessing an earlier Jackson Browne protest was also nullified by an ASCAP license.
Who knows if Heart has the power, as copyright owner, to prohibit any future use of the song? Not me. But they're certainly trying: the sisters Wilson had their attorneys write a cease-and-desist letter.