Skip to main content

For Political Campaigns

Political candidates often have questions about whether they can use music in connection with their campaigns. The bottom line is that it is best for a campaign to seek permission from the songwriter, artist, and copyright owners before using a song to rally the crowd, as an intro or lead up to a speech, as a signature song of the campaign, or in an advertisement.  

Campaigns face potentially significant risk if they use a song without first obtaining permission. For example, some campaign uses of a song can violate the copyrights in the sound recording and/or the underlying musical composition. In addition, some uses can violate the artist’s or songwriter’s rights of publicity, lead to claims for trademark infringement or dilution under the Lanham Act, or raise claims of false endorsement, unfair competition, or other claims under state law. Moreover, songwriters and artists have been known to publicly denounce the use of their music by a candidate when they do not share the candidate’s views or don’t want their music politicized, which can lead to unwanted negative publicity for the candidate.

Campaigns can mitigate these risks by obtaining the proper permissions before using music that they do not own.

*The information provided here does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice. Readers should contact their own counsel to obtain advice with respect to this or any other legal matter.