By Andy Grimm, Chicago Tribune –
CHICAGO — Newt Gingrich may be the underdog in Tuesday night’s Florida primary, but he shouldn’t be able to use Rocky Balboa’s theme at campaign events, lawyers for the composer of “Eye of the Tiger” say in a federal lawsuit filed Monday in Chicago.
After months of attempting to deal with Gingrich’s campaign, a Palatine, Ill.-based music publishing company owned by Survivor lead guitarist Frank Sullivan has filed suit seeking damages and an injunction to block the Republican contender from using the song at appearances and in campaign videos.
“This has nothing to do with politics. This is a copyright issue,” said Annette McGarry, Sullivan’s lawyer. “We’ve tried to deal with them for months, and they’ve been trying to ignore it.”
Since at least 2009, Gingrich has entered rallies to the pulsing guitar riffs of the song, which was the background track to Rocky’s training montages in the 1982 film “Rocky III.”
Despite complaints from Sullivan, Gingrich still was using the song at events in South Carolina earlier this month, and the song is featured in several campaign videos posted on the Internet, McGarry said. Polls show Gingrich trails rival Mitt Romney by double-digits in the Florida primary.
The lawsuit is the latest in a long line of similar cases filed by musicians against politicians, ranging from Bruce Springsteen fighting to keep Ronald Reagan from using “Born in the USA,” to Tom Petty’s more recent lawsuit against Michele Bachmann, who made “American Girl” her intro music, said Peter DiCola, a professor at Northwestern University Law School.
Often, the artist has a weak legal claim, as most places where political rallies are held have licensing agreements that allow them to play copyrighted music, DiCola said. Usually, the politicians simply back off.
The pugnacious Gingrich has not backed down, McGarry said.
“He likes to walk in like a fighter entering the ring,” she said. “He should have to pay for it.”
The Gingrich campaign did not respond to requests for comment Monday.
