Copyright Law

Songwriter sues Huckabee over use of 'Eye of the Tiger' at campaign event

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Mike Huckabee

Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. Christopher Halloran / Shutterstock.com

The campaign organization for Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is facing a copyright infringement suit over music played at a rally. The event featured both Huckabee and Kim Davis, the controversial Kentucky clerk once jailed for refusing to permit same-sex marriages.

Filed Wednesday in federal court in Illinois, the suit by guitarist Frank Sullivan, a founding member of Survivor, says “Eye of the Tiger,” a song he co-wrote, was performed without authorization at an event celebrating Davis’ release from jail, Reuters reports.

The suit, which names Huckabee for President as a defendant, seeks a court order banning further performances and damages for alleged willful copyright infringement.

Familiar to many from the soundtrack of Rocky III, the song was also the subject of a similar lawsuit in 2012 by Sullivan against Newt Gingrich. It was settled out of court.

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