Jun 23
Medal of Honor Composer Miffed With McCain
In the video above, John McCain talks about his experiences with war throughout his life. Listen carefully to the music in the background. That orchestrated piece is from Medal of Honor: European Assult, and the use of the song by McCain has irritated composer Christopher Lennertz.
Lennertz is a strong Barrack Obama supporter and was very upset to discover that his work was being used in a advertisement of a candidate he did not support. Unfortunately, Lennertz discovered that he did not own the rights to the music in question.
“While I do not control the ownership of this piece, I am extremely disappointed with its placement in this commercial. I did not authorize the use and was not made aware of the situation,” Lennertz said.
“I am dismayed that my music has been used to promote his platform and even more disappointed that a candidate who claims to be the best voice for American entrepreneurs and business owners in this troubled economy so flagrantly ignored the most basic values and [tenants] of copyright and intellectual property.”
Do you guys think this fellow has a legitimate reason for being angry, or should he just get over it?
[via GamePolitics]
2 Comments so far
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He has a legitimate reason for being angry, but he isn’t really justified in talking about copyright/intellectual property, since as the article says, he doesn’t own the rights to his own composition.
That much, I’d say, is his fault.
He has a reason to be angry AND there’s nothing he can do about it (evidently). I would be pretty upset if I designed something that I found was being used for a pro-life campaign or the Republican party. From what I read, he was contracted to do it, but he didn’t have a very specific contract (which I am sure he is fixing right now, or already has)…but it is a very slippery case and that is why being a creative professional it sometimes pays to be a freelancer so you have as much control as you want over your work, rather than working for an employer who decides “Hey, everything you did for us, is ours now, so fuck off bottomfeeder”
The reason why I say it is ’slippery’ is because now word is out that the creator isn’t pleased with this result and it displays a conflict of interest, and I would think to avoid sending the wrong message the McCain campaign team should at least have the audio altered to something similar so that they aren’t knowingly playing a piece of art that was created by someone with disparate values that his campaign represents. Basically, his quote sums it up best…
“Is it legal?…yes, perhaps, is it ethical?…I don’t believe so” However, legality and ethicality never have to go hand in hand, especially in politics.
To anyone who says “He signed over the rights once he gave it to the other company” without knowing the details, you are a fucking dipshit.