By Francisco Gonzalez, JMI Development DirectorTags: Intellectual Property Rights, Campaign, Candidates, Principles, Rubio, CristMusicians are crying foul. First, it was the Steve Miller Band. Then David Byrne of the Talking Heads. The issue: intellectual property rights. And now this issue has entered Florida’s political arena.Earlier this year, the Marco Rubio campaign was using the popular Steve Miller song, “Take the Money and Run” in a YouTube campaign video aimed at his then-Republican primary opponent, Governor Charlie Crist. This prompted Miller to issue a statement: “The Steve Miller Band and Steve Miller do not endorse Marco Rubio’s campaign or any political candidates and respectfully request that Mr. Rubio learn more about publishing law and intellectual property rights. I also ask that in the future he extends me the courtesy of asking permission before using my songs.”In May, Crist’s campaign for the U.S. Senate began using the Talking Heads’ 1985 single “Road to Nowhere” in a YouTube video attacking Rubio. Subsequently, lead singer David Byrne announced he was suing Crist for using this song without permission or proper licenses.It seems that both Mr. Rubio, conservative Republican, and Governor Crist, former Attorney General for Florida, forgot about the property rights that are guaranteed to all Americans – including the intellectual property rights of musicians. As candidates for elected office, they are presumably trampling on property rights they swore an oath to defend.But this is also a lesson for musicians who get out there and lend their voices to so many pet liberal and “progressive” causes. If musicians are concerned about property rights (rightfully so) and do not want their music used without permission and distributed to causes they do not necessarily agree with or support, they might want to consider that property rights do not merely begin and end with their own intellectual property.Musicians should be wary of supporting any political philosophies – such as those embraced by the progressive left – that collectivize property (including income) and redistribute it as those in positions of government power deem fit. Music and those who create it typically celebrate the individual and freedom of expression. But when it comes to their personal politics, most musicians tend to support candidates and causes that deny individual rights (including property rights). That is, until others violate their own property rights.In this case, hypocrisy can be seen on both ends – by political candidates who typically support property rights and by musicians who care about their own property rights but often politically support those who abuse these individual liberties. I would welcome musicians and politicians alike to come together to support full property rights at all times and in all places. It’s a timeless American principle we can agree on.
