When you hear a song played at a political rally, does it imply that the artist singing it endorses that candidate? This is the kind of thorny legal and moral issue that continues to resurface, particularly during presidential campaigns.
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Former Arkansas governor and perennial Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee agreed to pay $25,000 to settle a copyright infringement lawsuit brought by Survivor guitarist Frankie Sullivan after Huckabee played their hit “Eye of the Tiger” at a rally he staged in support of Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis. Davis briefly became a celebrity for the conservative set after she refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, citing religious objections.
While the settlement was officially secret, Huckabee’s payments were revealed as part of his federal election filings, in which he listed a payment to rightsholder Rude Music as a legal settlement for copyright infringement, CNN reported.
Huckabee had previously argued that the rally was a religious gathering and that the performance of the song was protected by fair use and “non-commercial” but his argument was not supported by the court after he claimed it as a campaign expense.
via Celebrity Access