John McCain Fires Back At Jackson Browne With Legal Documents

With his election loss behind him, John McCain has found a new opponent in Jackson Browne. After Browne sued the Republican candidate back in August for using "Running on Empty" without permission in a campaign ad, McCain has fired back in court with a pair of 20-page motions. First, McCain seeks to dismiss the charges, citing "fair use" of a song with "an acknowledged cliché" for a title. McCain's lawyers also say that their use of the song likely increased the popularity of the 30-year-old song than damaged its commercial potential. In a second motion that adds insult to Browne's injury, McCain's lawyers are seeking monetary damages, accusing Browne of attempting to "chill" McCain's free speech. Team McCain is seeking attorney fees and similar costs. While the trial may seem like an afterthought to the election, it could determine the future of music use in political campaigns and whether or not Sarah Palin will be allowed to use "Barracuda" in 2012.

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Song Stories

“Piano Man”

Billy Joel | 1973

Billy Joel’s first hit, “Piano Man,” was – ironically – an autobiographical lament about how his first album wasn’t a hit. When Cold Spring Harbor didn’t take off, Joel briefly became a lounge pianist in Los Angeles, and this song, about that experience, expressed his frustrations and fears at the time: “And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar/And say, ‘Man, what are you doing here?’” “It was all right,” Joel said later, about the gig. “I got free drinks and union scale, which was the first steady money I’d made in a long time.”

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