Singer Sues After His Song Appears In Anti-Obama Ad

Post by Amy Bonanno
AP Photo/Louis Lanzano


Most musicians are happy if people remember their songs after thirty years. But for Jackson Browne, a Democratic activist, hearing his 1977 hit “Running on Empty” in a recent John McCain political ad, was reason to go to court.

According to ADLAWbyRequest, Browne is suing John McCain, the Republican National Committee, and the Ohio Republican Party for using his song in an ad that attacks the Junior Illinois Senator’s energy policy. The ad specifically pokes fun at Obama’s suggestion of conserving gasoline by keeping car tires at proper pressure.

Browne's complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, states “[T]he [c]ommercial falsely suggests that [he] sponsors, endorses and is associated with McCain and the Republican Party, when nothing could be further from the truth.”

The singer is seeking $75,000 in damages as well as an injunction to stop the commercial. He says the ad “infringed on his copyright, and violated his right of publicity under California common law.”