I'll try to keep the politics out of this one, but you may have heard of Kim Davis recently? She is the Kentucky clerk who refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses and then when the Supreme Court ordered to and she still didn't, she was sent to jail for about a week for being held in contempt of court.
Davis was released yesterday and during a rally orchestrated by presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee, they blasted Survivor's 80s classic "Eye of the Tiger" as Davis entered the rally:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydyFhIjdRlU[/youtube]
There was one problem with this. Davis or whomever organized the rally never cleared the public performance of the copyrighted tune with the license holders, Survivor or EMI. And, perhaps unsurprisingly, the writers of the song, Jim Peterik and Frankie Sullivan are pissed. Peterik told Billboard:
I was very surprised and dismayed at the misuse of the song I co-wrote with Frankie Sullivan for Rocky lll. The song has motivated thousands through the years to reach beyond their limits. Its use for the release of Kim Davis does not support my views or my politics. I have contacted my publishers to make sure this usage is stopped immediately.
Sullivan made his own statement on his personal Facebook page:
"NO! We did not grant Kim Davis any rights to use" the song, Sullivan said on Facebook. "I would not grant her the rights to use Charmin! C'mom Mike, you are not The Donald but you can do better than that … See Ya really SoooooooonnnnnnN!!!!!!"
The "see you real soon" warning may be a hint that the copyright holders are pursuing legal action for unauthorized rights to a public performance.
CraveOnline spoke to intellectual property attorney Paul W. Steiner who explained:
“As far as I have heard, no one secured the rights to that public performance of ‘Eye of the Tiger’ and as a result they violated EMI’s intellectual property rights today,” adds Steiner. “It is illegal for someone to ignore IP law and would make the offending parties guilty of infringement under Copyright Law (17 U.S.C. § 501(a)).”
No suits have been filed yet, but TMZ reports the group is considering a lawsuit.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btPJPFnesV4[/youtube]
