Musician Tom Petty has complained to the Michelle Bachmann campaign about his song “American Girl” being used at her presidential run kick off. He is in the process of getting a cease and desist order. He had a similar issue with the Bush campaign over the song “I Won’t Back Down.”
At what point does an artist stop having control over where his or her music is played? I am not sure Petty has a leg to stand on if the campaign owns the recording. Could he come along and tell a club they cannot play the same recording as dance music? What about some kid with a boom box? What if Bachmann tells Tom Petty to stick it?
If a person is in the business of selling recordings of their music, then they have to expect it to be played.
Tom Petty is living up to his name. This is about as Petty as it gets.
