McCain & Palin 'Stealing' Music

[sorry for the lapse in blogging, I sprained my shoulder in a bicycle accidentand haven't been able to post; but I'm back, mostly]

It's funny, as a high school filmmaking teacher, one of my biggest challenges is to teach students (11th and 12th graders) that just because you can download images or songs from the Internet without inputting your credit card information doesn't mean it is a legal acquisition of someone elses art. Looks like John McCain and Sarah Palin could take some time out of their busy campaign schedule to come learn something from my classes.

Back in February, McCain was playing John Melloncamp's “Our Country” and “Pink Houses” on the campaign trail. Melloncamp is a faithful Democrat and a John Edwards supporter at the time (that's a lot of 'Johns'). Melloncamp had his reps contact McCain asking him to stop playing his songs at his rallies according to Rolling Stone magazine.


Now People magazine is reporting that rock-n-roll sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson, the backbone of 70's pop band Heart, have sent an email to the McCain/Palin campaign demanding that they stop playing Heart's "Barracuda."

"The Republican campaign did not ask for permission to use the song, nor would they have been granted that permission," the statement read.

It continued: "We have asked the Republican campaign publicly not to use our music. We hope our wishes will be honored."

Even after the email, the Republicans continued to use the song. This also from People's website:

She and her sister Ann then emailed this exclusive statement to EW.com: "Sarah Palin's views and values in NO WAY represent us as American women. We ask that our song 'Barracuda' no longer be used to promote her image.

"The song 'Barracuda' was written in the late '70s as a scathing rant against the soulless, corporate nature of the music business, particularly for women. (The 'barracuda' represented the business.) While Heart did not and would not authorize the use of their song at the RNC, there's irony in Republican strategists' choice to make use of it there."