Intellectual Property
Oct. 30, 2024
The campaign season's copyright showdown
Politicians are increasingly using popular songs in their campaign materials without authorization, leading to legal battles with musicians.
Rami S. Yanni
Partner, Raines Feldman Littrell LLP
Rami Yanni is an attorney with over 30 years of experience advising media, entertainment, multinational and emerging growth companies, as well as individuals. His expertise includes intellectual property and entertainment transactions, licensing, acquisitions, portfolio management, and anti-piracy matters. Throughout his career, he has negotiated hundreds of agreements across various industries, representing major motion picture studios and television networks on copyright and trademark matters. Rami is also adjunct faculty teaching intellectual property at USC Gould School of Law.
Sami Kazi
Associate, Raines Feldman Littrell LLP
Sami Kazi is an entertainment and intellectual property attorney specializing in representing recording artists, songwriters, producers, and industry professionals. His practice encompasses music, trademark and copyright matters, with a focus on both traditional media and emerging markets including anime and digital entertainment.
As the 2024 campaign season reaches its final throes, politicians are yet again finding themselves in an unexpected battle - this time not over policy positions or polling numbers, but over their music playlists. Thanks, in part, to the hyper-socialization of media in the modern era, politicians are increasing their reach to voters by way of popular songs in their audiovisual campaign materials, often posted to X (f/k/a Twitter), Instagram and other social media sites. Whethe...
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