How Copyright Blunders Push Political Campaigns Off-Course

Missteps in copyright and intellectual property law can send a political campaign off-track and off-message. Even when a copyright blunder doesn’t lead to formal legal action, it distracts from the candidate’s core political message. Here are a few intellectual property landmines on which an unwary political campaign might stumble.

Selecting the Wrong Music.

The right music can energize rally attendees and add oomph to a candidate’s televised message. In contrast, the wrong music selection can generate cease nd desist letters, lawsuits, and negative public comments from peeved musicians who don’t agree with the campaign’s views and don’t want their music associated with it. Recent political campaign music skirmishes have involved John McCain against Jackson Browne, Sarah Palin against Heart, and U.S. Senate candidate Chuck DeVore against Don Henley. Campaigns should also note that selecting music for a political ad demands more care than the selection of music for a political rally.

Failing to Acquire Domain Names and Social Media User Names.

Today’s political campaigns increasingly rely on internet communications and need to acquire appropriate domain names and social media account names. In general, domain name registrars and social media networks issue names on a first-come, first-served basis without doing any conflict check. That’s bad news for campaigns slow to secure domain names and social media account names featuring the candidate’s personal name – especially if an opponent gets them instead. While a candidate can sometimes re-claim a domain name that incorporates his personal name, under certain circumstances, it is completely legal for a campaign to use a domain name that features the personal name of an opposing candidate.

Stepping Outside Copyright Fair Use Boundaries.

Using someone else’s copyrighted work is infringement unless fair use or another exception to copyright protection applies. Unfortunately, identifying the line where fair use ends and copyright infringement begins is not always easy. Past political seasons have generated copyright infringement allegations against U.S. Senate candidate Sharron Angle, Senator Harry Reid, and U.S. Senate candidate Robin Carnahan.

Not Vetting Stock Footage.

Stock footage is pre-existing footage program producers incorporate into their productions. While there is nothing inherently wrong with using properly licensed stock footage, there can be a downside. Hillary Clinton plunged into that downside during her 2008 Presidential bid when her campaign used eight-year old stock footage in the red phone ad. The footage featured Casey Knowles as a child. The problem was the grown-up Knowles had become a staunch Barack Obama supporter and was not shy about publicly identifying herself as such. That story angle dominated coverage of Clinton’s campaign for several days.