Guest post by Monica Corton (@momusing) Via The Guardian: Rock band Queen have lodged the latest protest against Donald Trump after the presidential candidate played the band’s famous anthem We Are the Champions at the Republican National Convention. “An unauthorized use at the Republican Convention against our wishes,” the British band said in a succinct statement posted on Twitter. What’s a songwriter to do when a song is used without authorization by a politician who espouses opposite views? This increasingly is becoming…
GoldieBlox vs. the Beastie Boys – What Constitutes Fair Use?
Guest post by Monica Corton (@momusing), Executive Vice President, Creative Affairs & Licensing Next Decade Entertainment, Inc. Now that the Beastie Boys have gone on the offensive for the unlicensed and unauthorized use of their song “Girls”, written by Adam Horovitz and Rick Rubin, as used in the Goldieblox viral video campaign to feature their girls toy line . . . let’s try to unpack what actually happened and why songwriters and music publishers firmly believe that this was not…
