George W. Bush campaign vs. John Hall (Orleans). From p2pnet.net News:
The president of the United States of America is guilty of copyright violation.
Or at least, his Vote for Me Again campaign is.
"Still the One," performed by 70s rock band band Orleans, is much loved by the public, advertisers and businesses, say Orleans members John Hall and Larry and Lance Hoppen in an Open Letter.
Written by Hall, "Still the One," from the band's "Waking and Dreaming" LP, was their second biggest hit, says a Wiki post.
"The cheery pop tune opened and ended a Bush campaign rally in New Hampshire Friday, then was to have vanished from the political playlist," says an Associated Press story.
John Hall complained about the campaign's use of the song at the president's events without permission, and "Out of deference to Mr. Hall's views, the song will no longer be played," George W Bush campaign spokeswoman Nicolle Devenish is quoted as saying in the AP piece, which also has her saying the song was included in a catalog of music that, "the campaign's licensing company used to provide music for events".
"ABOUT THE CONTROVERY SURROUNDING 'STILL THE ONE' AND THE BUSH CAMPAIGN
By John Hall, Larry Hoppen and Lance Hopen - Orleans
Orleans has unwittingly been caught up in a controversy due to the Bush Campaign's recent use of "Still The One". This open letter is an attempt to shed some light on the way U.S. Copyright Law and the standard practices of advertising, promotion and music licensing work in our industry --- and also some insight into how and why we responded the way we did.
First and foremost, we would like to say that we are and have always been flattered by how much the public, advertisers and businesses love this song. We were but mid-twenties youngsters when we recorded it, and to this day are gratified and honored that ABC TV, Keds, Burger King, NutriSystem, Applebee's and Flanagan'q restaurants, and many, many others have used our song because they feel it is a very positive message --- which is how we always intended it.
We regret that some people are offended by our efforts to protect the copyright and use of our work. However, Orleans was surprised last Thursday night by the announcement on CNN that "Still The One" was the new Bush campaign theme song. Without insult to the President, who campaigns for an "ownership society," this is above all else an issue of legal ownership.
Put simply, we make our living by writing, recording and performing music. In America, when any entity sees fit to use any song for any gain, the appropriate procedure - and one that has always been followed in our experience by the dozens of entities, large and small, in the 28 years since "Still The One" was first a hit - is to contact the Publisher (administrator of the Copyright) in order to obtain a License Agreement. In using a particular recording of a song - in this case the original hit version - the related procedure (which is again customary, accepted and adhered to) is to also obtain a license from the owner of that Master Recording, in this case a multinational corporation.
This is the equivalent of obtaining a building permit before beginning construction of your home. If construction begins before the issuance of a license, construction can be halted by the regulating authorities.
From here it gets a bit more complex but the following is crucial to what happened in this case. As has been pointed out in the media, the Bush Campaign did have a 'Blanket License' from BMI (Broadcast Music International), a firm that collects performance royalties when its affiliated songs are played on the radio or used in a 'bulk' manner by any Licensee - restaurants, nightclubs, etc. However, "Still The One" was chosen, and announced, as a major featured song on the Campaign trail, not as incidental background music." Repeated uses at major public gatherings covered by major media were clearly planned, and indeed last Thursday and Friday rallies using the song were broadcast by networks and cable channels here and around the world.
BMI cannot grant a License for that kind of promotional use. The Blanket License from BMI is not relevant to the issue. The featured use of our Copyright without permission of the writers and performers, and without a License, is the issue. The legal issue would have been the same, had the Kerry campaign used the song without asking.
Until Thursday night, Orleans sat on the sidelines in this campaign. We had not endorsed any candidate, performed at any public rallies or fundraisers. Like many Americans, we shared our opinions with our families and friends and planned on voting privately. After our song was featured in such a high profile way, we felt that it could be construed as an endorsement of the President, and we decided to make a statement correcting that impression.
But primarily, this is about intellectual property rights and proper licensing procedure. We appreciate that the Bush Campaign announced that they had stopped using the song out of respect for our concerns.
We are grateful that we live in a country where we can make a living playing music, and a country with a guaranteed right to dissent. We fully appreciate our privilege to 'speak' to many people through music. We are people of faith, parents, taxpayers, volunteers in our communities. We love our democracy, which has had a hallowed tradition of at least two parties throughout its history. Though we, and many other patriotic Americans, may disagree with certain policies of the current administration, we wholeheartedly support our troops and grieve for those lost or wounded. We have performed for Armed Services here and abroad and in the last few years been proud that our single "Lady Liberty" was played on Armed Forces Radio.
Like all Americans, we need economic security in order to support our families AND the security of knowing that our work and our ownership of that work is respected. We say again that we regret if anyone was offended by our simply standing up to make that point.
With respect to all,
John Hall, Larry Hoppen and Lance Hoppen"
"Dance With Me: The Best of Orleans" CD: ORDER IT NOW.
