All Eagles Star Wants to Do Is Sue Over Senate Candidate's Alleged Song Misuse
A California lawmaker is now facing battles on two fronts, as he seeks the Republican nomination in an effort to unseat Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) in 2010.
Eagles founder Don Henley is suing Calif. Assemblyman Charles DeVore (R-Irvine) over his claimed infringement of “All She Wants to Do is Dance,” which is being used, in an altered version, in campaign material, reports the BBC. However, DeVore contends that his altered lyrics, including the substitution of the word “tax” for “dance,” make the song a permissible parody, and says he intends to file a First Amendment counterclaim.
A video prepared on DeVore’s behalf had been up on YouTube, but was taken down due to a copyright claim, according to a note posted on the video-sharing site.
DeVore referred to the litigation as “Mr. Henley’s liberal goon tactics,” according to the news agency.
Henley and guitarist Mike Campbell of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers also filed suit against DeVore and a campaign worker in federal court in Los Angeles on Friday over DeVore’s alleged infringement of the 1984 hit “The Boys of Summer,”which the two co-authored, according to the Contra Costa Times. It was reportedly used, with altered lyrics, throughout a video posted online in which DeVore attacked Barack Obama.
“Henley and Campbell did not, and would not, authorize the use of their song for this purpose,” states the suit. Yet “viewers might also conclude that Henley and Campbell are political supporters of DeVore, which they are not.”
The litigation is the latest filing in a series of legal battles over alleged misuse of copyrighted songs by political candidates last year.
Additional coverage:
CNN: “Don Henley sues Senate candidate over song use”
