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Legal
Eagles man sues namesake over uncleared song use
By CMU Editorial | Published on Friday 29 January 2010
Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh has threatened legal action against an American politician who is using one of his songs – ‘Walk Away’ – seemingly without the appropriate permissions having been obtained. A Republican congressional candidate in Illinois is using the song, which originally appeared on an album by Walsh’s original band James Gang, with altered lyrics as part of his political campaigning. It is likely the political man chose the song because his name is, you guessed it, Joe Walsh.
Walsh the songwriter alleges that Walsh the politician has not acquired permission to use his song, nor to change the words in it. And, according to Billboard, his lawyer has sent a slightly tongue-in-cheek cease-and-desist letter in which he gives the aspiring congressman a few pointers on US copyright law.
The legal letter says that the US Copyright Act “says a lot of things, but one of the things it says is that you can’t use someone else’s song for your political campaign promotion unless you get permission from the owner of the copyright in the song. As far as we can tell, you didn’t do that. Maybe you got so busy with the campaign that you just forgot. But that’s not OK”.
The letter continues: “Under that same United States Copyright Act, you’re not allowed to take someone’s song and change the lyrics. This is not to say you’re not allowed to write silly lyrics, you just have to write them to your own music. Now, I know why you used Joe’s music – it’s undoubtedly because it’s a lot better than any music you or your staff could have written. But that’s the point. Since Joe writes better songs than you do, the Copyright Act rewards him by letting him decide who gets to use the songs he writes”.
The letter adds that the potential for confusion regards the name ‘Joe Walsh’ might also be an issue. It concludes: “Given that your name is Joe Walsh, I’d think you’d want to be extra careful about using Joe’s music in case the public might think that Joe is endorsing your campaign, or, God forbid, is you”.
Walsh the politician’s campaign manager has defended their use of the song, arguing that the rework of the lyrics covers them, though I’m not sure that’s at all correct. If this does go to court, presumably Walsh can get some advice off Eagles bandmate Don Henley, who is himself in dispute with congressional candidate Charles DeVore over the use of one of his songs in that political man’s campaigning.
