Eagles frontman Don Henley is suing California Assemblyman Chuck DeVore (R) for using his songs in a campaign against Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.)
Henley says DeVore should have asked permission before using two of his songs–“The Boys of Summer” and “All She Wants To Do Is Dance”–to mock Boxer.
“The infringers have vowed to continue exploiting this and other copyrighted works, as it suits them, to further their own ambitions and agenda,” a Henley spokesperson told NME.com
DeVore’s campaign accused Henley of “liberal goon tactics” and says they’ll file a counterclaim.
DeVore had re-written the lyrics to at least one of the songs and posted them on YouTube as a satire.
The Guardian has more details:
Henley contacted YouTube and demanded that they take down the videos. YouTube complied, but later reposted them after receiving a complaint from DeVore. According to TMZ, YouTube told Henley they would only take the videos down if he filed a copyright infringement claim. And then he, er, did.
[snip]
Henley joins a litany of American musicians who have objected to the use of their music in recent political campaigns. Foo Fighters, John Mellencamp, Jackson Browne, Heart and Van Halen all lashed out at last year’s McCain/Palin campaign, while MGMT sued French president Nicolas Sarkozy after his party used one of their songs without permission.