Music Copyright Laws and Use for Political Messages

Music and politics don’t always mix. Three well-known music stars – Pharrell, Rihanna and Guns & Roses’ Axl Rose – have objected to their songs recently used by President Trump in rallies ahead of the midterm elections. A cease and desist order has been sent to The White House by Rihanna’s lawyer. Politicians often use popular music as a way to connect to the public, but do the campaigns have the right to use music without the consent of artists and do the artists have any legal recourse? To dive into this question, host Dan Loney talks with Marc Ostrow, a copyright entertainment and music lawyer and Adjunct Professor with Yeshiva University’s Cardozo School of Law, and Michael Carroll, Law Professor and Program Director of the Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property at American University’s Washington College of Law on Knowledge at Wharton.