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.
The District Court also set a hearing for late April to set a schedule for the case, including a date for the jury trial.
Browne's attorney, Lawrence Iser, of the Santa Monica, California law firm Kinsella Weitzman Iser Kump & Andisert, comments: "The Court's decision is a solid victory for songwriters and performers and reflects an affirmation of their intellectual property rights and their freedom from being conscripted as involuntary endorsers of political candidates and campaign messages. We are happy that the Court recognized that persons and parties running for office are not entitled to violate an individual's intellectual property and publicity rights simply because they are engaged in political campaigns. We look forward to presenting Jackson Browne's case to the jury."
The Court's rulings can be found at www.kwikablog.com.
Contact: Michael Jensen at Jensen Communications, Inc. 626-585-9575 or info@jensencom.com
