Campaigns, Copyrights, and Compositions: A Politician’s Guide to Music on the Campaign Trail

[Commentary] You’re about to get a crash-course in how to avoid eliciting an angry public statement from a pop icon.

1. Know the legal terrain (a.k.a. “Musical Copyright 101”). What most people think of as a song is, in the eyes of the law, actually two things: a composition, and a recording. If you’re going to use music in your campaign stop, you first need to figure out who owns each part. Do this ahead of time and it will save lots of trouble later.
2. Pay for any relevant performance rights -- Any public performance means that a candidate must pay the composer of the work. Performance rights grant the composer the legal right to compensation whenever one of their works is played publicly.
3. Check with your venue -- Most major arenas and other venues that host campaign rallies also host musical performances.
4. Check with the artist -- Although venue blanket licenses often shield campaigners from copyright lawsuits, they don’t preclude all other associated legal claims that an angered artist could raise, including violation of his right to publicity and a claim that, by using the song, a candidate has misappropriated his (or her) work.
5. To YouTube, or not to YouTube? -- Most disputes stem from a song’s use in the context a live campaign rally. In these cases, the campaign is either under a blanket license provided by the venue, or else is legally obligated to clear the rights to the composition (but not the recording) by negotiating with the songwriter and to pay the performance fee to the songwriter’s PRO.