POLITICAL CAMPAIGN LICENSING FAQ
Since the founding of America, music has been used to inspire patriotism and drum up excitement for American political cam-
paigns. George Washington used “God Save Great Washington” (a parody of “God Save the King”), Dwight Eisenhower used
“They Like Ike” (written by ASCAP founding member Irving Berlin) and Barack Obama used “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours”
(co-written and performed by ASCAP member Stevie Wonder), just to name a few campaign success stories.
While using music is a great way to energize a campaign, doing so requires securing permission from the copyright owners.
We’ve put together this list of Q&As to help you understand what’s required, and the consequences of using unlicensed music
on the campaign trail.
Why should a political campaign care about music licensing?
Recent controversy over unauthorized music use has created unwanted negative publicity for candidates that can distract from
their campaign activities. Understanding and complying with the permissions required under copyright law is good for all involved.
What is ASCAP and what is its role?
ASCAP is the country’s rst performing rights organization (PRO), and the only one that operates on a not-for-prot basis. We
represent more than 20 million musical works from our more than one million songwriter, composer and music publisher mem-
bers. We license the right to publicly perform our members’ music to businesses that use it – including radio and TV stations,
streaming services, cable networks, websites and brick and mortar establishments, like bars and music venues. We track the use
of music, identify the copyright owners and distribute the appropriate royalties to our members.
ASCAP provides an important income stream for our members and gives music users an ecient way to obtain the necessary
permission to perform music for their business or other public communications needs.
What licenses does a campaign need to play music at campaign events?
If a campaign is using the music of ASCAP members at live events, like political conventions and regional campaign stops, then
it should secure a “public performance” license with ASCAP to comply with copyright law.
Many venues that host political events may already have public performance licenses with ASCAP (and the other US PROs).
However, as a general rule, an ASCAP license for convention centers, arenas and hotels excludes music used during conven-
tions, expositions and campaign events.
What if I’m hosting a campaign event at my residence or place of business?
As these would be considered public performances requiring permission of the copyright owners or their licensing organiza-
tions, you should ask the campaign to conrm that they have secured public performance licenses for any copyrighted music
that may be used at the event and will avoid using any musical works that may be excluded from the campaign’s licenses.
Why can’t a campaign rely on the venue’s public performance license?
While many venues take out public performance licenses with ASCAP, our licenses for convention centers, arenas and hotels
typically exclude music used during conventions, expositions and political campaign events.
This makes sense because the campaign is the main beneciary of the performances, not the venue, and is in the best position
to control the performances. For this reason, event organizers (including political campaigns) have traditionally assumed respon-
sibility for obtaining the permission from rights holders.
If a campaign is holding many events at dozens of dierent venues, it may be easier for the campaign itself to secure a public
performance license from ASCAP (and possibly other US PROs, if the music used is licensed through one of them). Having such
licenses in place would guarantee that, no matter where you have a campaign stop, the performances of music at the events
would be in compliance with copyright law.
If a campaign wants to use a song in a campaign
commercial, what permissions does it need?
This kind of use requires a synchronization license, which would permit you to use music paired
with visuals. The campaign will need to negotiate the appropriate license with the song’s publisher, as well
as the owner of the sound recording (typically the artist’s record label).
And remember, once the commercial has been produced, the TV and radio stations, and any websites that transmit the
commercial, must have a public performance license to legally air the commercial.
How long does an ASCAP license for political campaigns last?
This license is issued to an individual candidate’s specic campaign and extends only until the candidate is sworn into oce —
not for the candidate’s full term in oce.
What music is covered by the ASCAP license for political campaigns?
The ASCAP political campaign license agreement provides a blanket license to perform any or all of the 20 million compositions
in the ASCAP repertory. However, ASCAP members may ask us to exclude specic songs from a particular political campaign’s
license. In that event, ASCAP will notify the campaign of the excluded works.
If the campaign events are properly licensed, can the campaign still be criticized or even sued by
an artist for playing their song at an event?
Yes. If an artist is concerned that their music has been associated with a political campaign, he or she may be able to take legal
action even if the campaign has the appropriate performance licenses. The campaign could potentially be in violation of other
laws, unrelated to music licensing:
1. The artist’s Right of Publicity, which in many states provides image protection for famous people or artists
2. The Lanham Act, which covers confusion or dilution of a trademark (such as a band or artist name) through its
unauthorized use
3. False Endorsement, where use of the artist’s identifying work implies that the artist supports a product or candidate
As a general rule, a campaign should be aware that, in most cases, the more closely a song is tied to the “image” or message
of the campaign, the more likely it is that the recording artist or songwriter of the song could object to the song’s usage by the
campaign.
How can the campaign protect itself against these other claims?
If a campaign wants to eliminate any of these claims, particularly if the campaign wants to use a song as its theme, they should
contact the management for the artists and/or songwriters of the songs in question, in advance of their use, and obtain their
permission. In addition to permission from management, a separate negotiated license may be required by the publisher of the
composition, and if the master recording is used, the record label that controls that recording.
How can I secure an ASCAP license for the political campaign I represent?
Fill out our licensing contact form and we will get back to you with more details about your ASCAP political campaign license.
I’m an ASCAP member. How can I exclude my music from a specic political campaign?
Log into your Member Access account and submit a Message (Category: My Catalog, Topic: Use of Works in Political Cam-
paigns) specifying which works you would like to exclude, and from which campaigns. An ASCAP rep will get in touch with you
to conrm the scope of your request. Once conrmed we will notify the campaign in question that the works you requested are
excluded from their ASCAP license.
What happens if a political campaign uses my music without permission?
If the campaign is licensed by ASCAP, they have the legal right to use any music in the ASCAP repertory, unless you have pro-
actively requested that it be excluded. You may choose to exclude your music from any campaign’s license by using the process
outlined above.
If the campaign is not licensed by ASCAP, they may be infringing on your copyright. You can choose to contact the campaign
directly.
