International Law

A Republican House candidate from New Hampshire has used over a minute of the 80s hit "Cruel Summer" in a campaign video attacking his Democratic opponent, Rep. Carol Shea-Porter. The video from the campaign of Sean Mahoney -- which identifies itself as a "political parody" -- argues that the economic policies of Shea-Porter and the Obama Administration "have given us a cruel summer."

Sean Mahoney for Congress: "Cruel Summer" from Sean Mahoney 2010 on Vimeo.

I have inquiries in to the Mahoney campaign as well as what I believe to be the copyright owners (Sony/ATV for the publishing and London Records for the master), to confirm what I strongly suspect: that the campaign did not get licenses for this use. (I will update this post when and if I hear back.) The self-imposed "parody" label notwithstanding, I think the copyright owners would have a very strong claim if they decided to pursue this. California Senate candidate Chuck DeVore (R) had a much more plausible claim to parody than does Mahoney -- and it was still a loser.

via copyrightsandcampaigns.blogspot.com

An example my LWB486 students may find interesting.