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 video is also title "Only the Young" and her song is played throughout the video as part of the message. The lyrics correspond to the changing video clips and images. They also include recordings of young people commenting on the movements and a clip of the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The video has an overall positive message, but it is also outwardly criticizing the current president at the time Donald Trump. Below is the video from YouTube:

Taylor Swift has become more vocal about her political views since former President Trump was elected in 2016. This was an opportunity for her to support Joe Biden and Kamala Harris's campaign while speaking out about the issues minority groups face in the United States. She made a statement to V Magazine stating:

“The change we need most is to elect a president who recognizes that people of color deserve to feel safe and represented, that women deserve the right to choose what happens to their bodies, and that the LGBTQIA+ community deserves to be acknowledged and included. Everyone deserves a government that takes global health risks seriously and puts the lives of its people first. The only way we can begin to make things better is to choose leaders who are willing to face these issues and find ways to work through them."

Swift has been a very successful and popular artists with younger generations. The music and video content perfectly aligned with their message. This is a great example of a campaign finding a politically active musician and getting the proper licenses and approval for using her work.

Comments

Blanket License

What is a Blanket License? A blanket license allows the licensee to use any song in the granted catalog. This is license is typically issued by a performing rights organization (PRO) to allow the licensee to perform or play any song in their catalog. This is useful when the user wants to play multiple songs from a catalog without having to license them individually. An example would be a bar or nightclub that wants to play a variety of songs belonging to a PRO. Other examples include radio stations or television networks that want to play one or multiple songs from the PROs catalog. How to get a Blanket License? There are three major performing rights organizations in the U.S., ASAP, BMI, and SESAC. Blanket licenses are usually granted by one or multiple of these PROs and only allow the user to play songs from their specific catalog. Keep in mind, having a blanket license does not mean you can play any song you want, only the songs belong to the corresponding PRO. A helpful website

6 Major Types of Music Licenses

Music Licensing: In order to use a song that is not your own, you will mostly likely have to get a license. Music licenses allow a copyright holders to extend some of their rights to the licensee who will compensate them appropriately. Many licenses have set amounts approved by the copyright holder and Performing Rights Organization. This payment is in the form of royalties which is usually determined by a set fee, per-unit, or per-use. For any and all uses of a song, there is a corresponding license that permits that specific use. Below is a list of the six most commonly used music licenses: Master License The Master License is owned by the copyright owner. Obtaining this license allow the licensee to use the song for an audio or visual project. This specific license only allows the use of the original/pre-recorded (no covers or editing). It is often paired with a Sync License which offers an additional use (see below). Use: To use the original song recording with audio or visual pr

Trademark Act - Part 2

(Photo by Mudassir Ali from Pexels) Trademark Law and Musicians: Specifically for campaign use, the infringement comes from the confusion of the artists brand or image they have created for themselves. In legal proceedings, they refer to the precedent set by the Ninth Circuit in AMF Inc v. Sleekcraft Boats: AMF Inc. v. Sleekcraft Boats, 599 F.2d 341, 348-49 (9th Cir. 1979) This case is where they developed eight factors to determine whether or not a trademark has been violated. AMF Inc. came out with Slickcraft Boats and registered their trademark in 1969. Sleekcraft Boats was another company that manufactured boats. AMF Inc., the plaintiff, sued Sleekcraft Boats for causing confusing for the two similarly named boats and created competition in the market. The defendant, Sleekcraft Boats, argued that Slickcraft Boats only manufactured high performance boats whereas Sleekcraft catered to a larger audience with a variety of boats. The court originally ruled that although the names were s

Copyrights and Campaigns

Search This Blog