Jackson Browne 1 John McCain 0

[SuperTrouper]

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- The United States District Court for the Central District of California has denied the motions of Senator John McCain and the Republican National Committee to dismiss the lawsuit brought by singer/songwriter Jackson Browne for the unauthorized use of Browne's voice and famous song Running On Empty in a presidential campaign commercial. Browne filed suit in August, 2008 for copyright infringement, false endorsement and violation of Browne's right of publicity. In a series of rulings on February 20, 2008, the Hon. R. Gary Klausner, United States District Judge, rejected the defendants' arguments that the First Amendment or copyright's fair use doctrine immunizes their unauthorized use of Browne's voice and song simply because such use occurred in the context of a political campaign commercial. Among the rulings, the Court denied the defendants' special motion to strike (inaccurately dubbed a "countersuit" in some news reports) with respect to Browne's right of publicity claim. In another ruling, the Court dismissed the Ohio Republican Party from the case on jurisdictional grounds, leaving Browne free to pursue his claims against it in Ohio.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Court-Denies-Motions-by-prnews-14436270.html

[avaistheone1]

1. Go Jackson Browne.

He defintely is a man of conviction and moral integrity.

[DemoTex]

2. Jackson Browne

:yourock:

[ChiciB1]

3. Oh, How I LOVE Jackson Browne! He's My Very Favorite & He's Written Some

fantastic songs! I think I have EVERYTHING of his, EXCEPT for his latest!

GO, JACKSON, GO!!!

[SteppingRazor]

4. I disagree with Browne's overly sentimental hippie claptrap...

but I defend to the death his right to sue the shit out of John McCain for copyright infringement! :evilgrin:

[Laurab]

9. "overly sentimental hippie claptrap"?

I think you must not be familiar with much of his work. Many, including me, would disagree. He is my favorite musician, and has been for over 30 years. I've never been a "hippie", and his songs are far from "claptrap" - as many of his fellow musicians, including Springsteen, who inducted him into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame would surely tell you. There are also the many, many prestigious awards he's won for his writing and his numerous causes to which he volunteers his time and money.

He surely didn't need the money from this lawsuit - it was done on principle, and I'm very happy he bothered to take the time to do it, and that he's prevailing.

[ChiciB1]

17. Thank You For Defending Jackson Browne... I Think That Perhaps Too Many

people are unaware of his "activism" over MANY, MANY YEARS! I can recall as far back as the Three Mile incident that he was there fighting against nuclear plants.

I find it unfortunate that EVERYTHING gets attacked no matter WHAT it is! As I stated yesterday, Jackson Browne is probably my FAVORITE singer and he's written some very FANTASTIC songs, not many "silly" ones but ones that try to deal with issues that should concern ALL of us!!!

[SuperTrouper]

20. I also love Jackson Browne, especially his songs "Doctor My Eyes" and "Hold Out"

When I was in medical school in Syracuse, we (six of us) would listen to Jackson Browne before exam time as our ritual of good luck. ;)

[ChiciB1]

23. Two Of His Greatest "Anti" Songs Are "Lives In The Balance" & "I Am A Patriot" Which Both

could apply to the War In Iraq, but were written in the 80's! I saw him in concert twice and LOVED every minute of it!

Of course "Stay" is one that always gets the crowd moving! I taped him from one of the PBS Specials and found out so much about him. It's on VCR, but I made sure that my DVD player had a VCR combined with it. He has GREAT Hair too! Always soooooooo shiny!

But there are those stories about him and Darrel Hannah, but I've gotten over them and hope she has too! He really really LOVED her!

[ChiciB1]

24. Don't Forget Crosby, Stills & Nash Who Will Tell You BLUNTLY That It's Always

Jackson Browne who drags them into important environmental and political issues! Nash especially gets a BIG kick out of how he manages to draw him into many causes!

Jackson Browne is no "hippie" who writes "clap-trap" and if you really knew much about him you probably wouldn't be saying things like that!!!

There are MANY singers and song-writers who hold him in high esteem! Springsteen, Mellencamp, Bonnie Raitt and on and on. At the 2004 Kerry concert, he was there with R.E.M. and Eddie Vedder and it was fantastic to watch. I taped that one too!

[EFerrari]

11. Jackson Browne has raised millions of dollars for social justice causes.

[SteppingRazor]

15. Sure. And I applaud that.

He's a righteous dude, I'm just not a big fan of the man's music.

[druidity33]

14. maybe

you shouldn't disparage if you know nothing about him?

:shrug:


And btw, hippie is not a bad word around here...

[SteppingRazor]

16. I've heard most of his albums, and I never opinionate on things I don't know anything about.

Also, I'm aware "hippie" isn't a bad word around here, from a philosophical standpoint. Hell, I've been here longer than you have. I find most of Browne's work to be fairly maudlin. That's all.

[druidity33]

18. well...

fairly maudlin is significantly different from "overly sentimental hippie claptrap".

Also, i tend to find that when people bring up their seniority to show how much more they know than you do, it often means they don't know jack.


:shrug:

[SteppingRazor]

19. I find that when people try to speak for all of DU...

as in the phrase "And btw, hippie is not a bad word around here..." they, too, don't know jack.

So, now that we've established that we're both morons, I'll grant you that my original assessment may have been a bit harsh. And as I alluded to in my post above, I'm not criticizing the man's activist work, just his music. His last couple albums, including last year's Time the Conqueror, have been profoundly lacking, in terms of the musicality if not the lyrical content, and his golden age, from his debut album to Running on Empty, has always been a bit overrated. But then, I'll admit to a certain negative bias toward that generally California-based slick, sentimental '70s singer/songwriter sound. Lester Bangs and I share a similar opinion regarding James Taylor, for example.

[Happyhippychick]

5. Come now Jackson! "Running on Empty" was THE PERFECT song for McMansions to use.

That said, I'm glad you're suing the shit out of him.

[dkofos]

6. Well the song did pretty much describe the mclame campaign.

[leftofthedial]

7. go Jackson!

[Cha]

8. Awesome Browne! Our musicians and

actors have done so much to counteract the lies of the corporatemediawhores.

OT..Did anyone see Sean Penn get the best actor award last night for "Milk"? An amazing acceptance speech that mentioned our Prez, Proposition 8 in Cali, the "hate signs on the way into the Kodak Theater, and next time voting down Prop 8 and there will be "Civil Rights for all"!

Dustin Lance Black who won the Oscar for best screen play for "Milk" had a super gracious speech, mentioning his conservative Morman roots and how he owed so much to Harvey Milk who gave him the courage to be who he is.

[saltpoint]

10. A great songwriter suing a clueless Republican.

Perfect.

Senator McCain, you just can't stroll into a picnic shelter and start eating someone else's food.

It doesn't belong to you.

Go, Jackson.

[Politicalboi]

12. Is Heart going to sue too?

I sure hope so.

[DesertRat]

29. Heart should sue him too

They sent McCain a cease and desist notice, but I haven't heard whether it went any further after that.

[rufus dog]

13. Take this John

I'm going to be a happy idiot
And struggle for the legal tender
Where the ads take aim and lay their claim
To the heart and the soul of the spender
And believe in whatever may lie
In those things that money can buy
Thought true love could have been a contender
Are you there?
Say a prayer for the pretender
Who started out so young and strong
Only to surrender

[underpants]

21. Oh man you have to know that Cindy is PISSED that this might still cost more money

:bounce:

[SuperTrouper]

22. She is still smarting from McHouses loss in the GE 2008 to Obama

and from McGrumpy vetoing her Dances with the Stars appearance.

[Buddyblazon]

25. While it makes me happy to see McCain get his due...

DUers should know...Jackson Browne is NOT a nice guy. He's short...angry...and "handsy".


His music is good...but he's not good person.

[Minimus]

26. "handsy" ? - More info please.

My curiosity is way piqued.

[Buddyblazon]

27. He kept putting his hands on female staff.

And remember...this is a man who beat Daryll Hannah.

[DesertRat]

28. His song is his property

No one has a right to use it to promote their campaign without Browne's permission. Whether or not you think that Browne is "nice" is beside the point.