We just received a scary letter from the law firm representing Eagles member Don Henley. The gist: Take down that blog-embedded video of Assemblyman Chuck DeVore's anti-Obama “Boys of Summer” parody, or else. Paralegal Naomi Simmons writes:
On April 7, 2009, Editorial Fellow Spencer Kornhaber posted an article in the blogs section of the OC Weekly entitled “Breaking: Don Henley Rebukes Chuck Devore!”(“Blog”). The Blog, currently accessible through http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/politics/breaking-don-henley-rebukes-ch/, includes the unauthorized video “After the Hope of November is Gone” created by or on behalf of State Assemblyman Chuck DeVore (“Infringing Video”) . Be advised that at no time has our Client granted to Chuck DeVore nor any of his agents, employees or representatives, license, authorization or other permission to exploit the Composition or capitalize on the goodwill and reputation of our Client to endorse and promote Assemblyman Devore's political campaign or his Website.
As evidenced by comments included in the Blog, Mr. Kornhaber was and is fully aware of the Artist's copyright claims which prompted expeditious shut-down of the Infringing Video by YouTube at our request. Despite such knowledge and information, he intentionally and deliberately posted the Infringing Video on OC Weekly. Since doing so, OC Weekly has and continues to enable web viewers unlimited access to view, copy and post the infringing content throughout the Worldwide Web without any license or control, thereby facilitating an explosion of further infringement activities.
Yuh oh. Copyright claims still exist, apparently, despite the best efforts of the Internet.
We're not going to fight Henley on this. Chuck DeVore might, though, since he's still hosting the video. Campaign new media director Justin Hart says that the DeVore camp thinks they're on firm legal footing: The video is both political and parody, two forms of speech that have been previously protected by the Supreme Court. And, he says, that isn't Henley's music beneath Hart's horrifying croon, per se. It's a karaoke track that the campaign purchased.
“Liberals have no funny bone,” Hart says. They do have lawyers, though.
