Skip to main content

Trump 2020 vs Tom Petty

Trump 2020 Rally

A recent and notable example of improperly using music in a political campaign is at the June 20th, 2020 Trump Rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 

During President Trumps Rally, they publicly played the song "Won't Back Down" by Tom Petty. Although Tom Petty passed away back in 2017, his copyright ownership was transferred to his family. As the new copyright owners, they put an emphasis on respecting the wishes and lifestyle of the original artist. The family and estate was not notified or consulted before using the song. Later that same day his family addressed his use of the song.

Their response was against the overall use for the song. The family said Trump and his campaign was "in no way authorized to use this song." Given the intense political climate, there was a lot of political weight behind this rally. Neither the family or Tom Petty would have agreed to use this song for this particular candidate. Knowingly or not this use showed blatant disregard for the art and artist. 

Art of any kind has has an intention behind it. The creator or owner are the only ones who are reserved the right to choose what their supports and how its used. It is important to respect the artists, otherwise it hinders new art and creates an unnecessary fear for creators. 

Link to the statement left made: Twitter Response


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Taylor Swift Authorizes Music For Congressmen

Taylor Swift and Congressmen Eric Swalwell Getting artist's consent for using their music is the easiest way to know you are not infringing on their trademark or copyright. This last October, for the first time ever in her career the renown pop artist, Taylor Swift, agreed to license one of her songs to congressmen Eric Swalwell. Eric Swalwell has been California's U.S. Representative for congressional district 15 since 2013. Swift allowed the campaign to use her song "Only the Young" for a political video. Although Eric Swalwell's campaign made the video, it is more of a statement towards the current political climate and promoting presidential candidate Joe Biden. The 1 minute and 45 second video shows clips of protests, police brutality, support for the LGBTQIA+ community, and Black lives Matter movement.  This video and the music sets a positive and uplifting tone to invoke change in our current political offices and bring minority groups to the spotlight. The...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Public Domain - Free Music

What is the public domain: The public domain is any creative material that in not protected by intellectual property laws. Just because you can freely access a song, does not mean it is in the public domain. Works in the public domain can be used freely without permission or licensing (paying royalties).  After a certain amount of time, all works will enter the public domain. The current copyright term is 70 years after the death of the last surviving author. This term has changed so many works have different terms currently. Some works may be entering public domain sooner (if they were not renewed originally). Generally, any work published during or before 1925 is part of the public domain. Songs from 1926 are now entering public domain. Where to find works in the public domain: It would be impossible to find all of the work in the public domain in one place because there are so many works that are not available online. Luckily, there are some websites that have a significant numb...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Importance of Copyright Law to Musicians

  Copyright Law and Musicians Copyright law exists to protect and promote education and creative works. It extends to all forms of original work fixed in a tangible medium. For musicians, copyright law protects their rights as a creator to have exclusive rights and control over their music. All copyrights are valid until 70 years after the death of the last surviving author/creator. After its expiration, the work becomes part of the public domain and can be used without a license or permission. While copyrights are active, there are six exclusive rights that a musician and/or copyright owner has:       1. To reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords (physical or digital);       2. To prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work;       3. To distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work to the public;      4. To perform the copyrighted work publicly;  ...
Post a Comment
Read more