Music and Politics, 1970 to Today: Hearings, Labels, Lawsuits and Campaign Songs

Lesson 08 ended with a government trying to deport a Beatle. The story from 1970 on has fewer deportations and more hearings, labels, licenses and lawsuits, and it moves faster because recordings travel in seconds instead of weeks. Every episode below involves a public figure acting in public: a musician, a senator, a campaign, a company, a court. Where a party is named, the lesson says what that party did. The ground rule from lesson 01 holds. A work from any political direction gets the same careful treatment, and the patterns in the tables are what the sources show, not an argument that the law favors one side.

The usual caution on lyrics applies. These works are under copyright, so the lesson quotes titles and a few words and describes the rest.

Reagan, Springsteen and the borrowed anthem

The Reagan Library's text of the Hammonton speech dates it September 19, 1984. The president said, in the sentence before the Springsteen line, "America's future rests in a thousand dreams inside your hearts," and went on to say that it rests "in the message of hope in songs of a man so many young Americans admire -- New Jersey's own, Bruce Springsteen."⁶ Two things are worth saying about that. The president did not name a song, and he did not claim that Springsteen backed him. He treated Springsteen's popularity as evidence of hope.

PopHistoryDig, a site that collects documents on pop music and politics, reports that Springsteen answered three days later, on September 22, at a concert in Pittsburgh.⁷ Between songs he said the president had been mentioning his name and wondered what Reagan's favorite album was, then said he did not think it was Nebraska, and played "Johnny 99." The Treble magazine account quotes him saying he did not think the president had been listening to that one.⁸ The same PopHistoryDig page reports that columnist George Will had praised Springsteen in a Washington Post column on September 13, 1984, titled "Bruce Springsteen's U.S.A.,"⁹ a few days before Hammonton, and it cites an interview in which Springsteen said of the president's "morning in America" advertising that "it's not morning in Pittsburgh." Those sources were read secondhand, so the quotes are PopHistoryDig's and Treble's, and the Pittsburgh remarks come from the concert and not from a publication. Treble gives no date and cites Salon, so September 22 rests on PopHistoryDig alone. No recording, transcript or contemporary newspaper report of the Pittsburgh remarks was checked for this lesson, so treat the quoted words as unverified until you have one. The Reagan Library text of the Hammonton speech, by contrast, is the primary record.

What does the episode show? A candidate read a singer's popularity as an endorsement of his message, and the singer answered from the stage that the songs said something else. Nothing in the law stopped the president from praising a singer's popularity, and nothing required the singer to stay quiet. The legal fights come later, when a campaign plays the record and does not merely praise it.

Punk, the Frankenchrist trial and the hung jury

Punk and hardcore in the Reagan years were mostly independent and mostly broke, and their politics ran in several directions. The best documented legal story belongs to the Dead Kennedys. The Michigan Daily reported on September 11, 1987 that lead singer Jello Biafra and the band's label manager Michael Bannano were tried in Los Angeles on a charge of distributing harmful material to minors under California Penal Code 313.1.¹⁰ The material was a poster by artist H.R. Giger enclosed with the band's 1985 album Frankenchrist. A parent complained to the state attorney general's office. The jury hung seven to five, the judge refused a retrial, and charges against the other defendants had been dropped.¹¹ Prosecutor Michael Guarino called the poster gratuitous and said he thought a conviction would have followed if the jury had seen only the poster and not the lyric sheet.¹² Biafra and his supporters called it a victory, and the Daily called it a weak one, since no jury had found him innocent.

Alternative Tentacles, Biafra's label, reposts a 1987 Los Angeles Times article on the trial, and a reporter should read it beside the Michigan Daily account. The article says the jury could not decide whether the poster was obscene and that the judge refused to let the deputy city attorney refile.¹³ The prosecutor's own stated position, recorded in the 1987 newspaper account, is that the poster was gratuitous and that a jury shown only the poster would have convicted. Both statements are on the record, and neither is a legal finding.

Live Aid and the benefit record

Live Aid, according to Britannica, took place on July 13, 1985, simultaneously at Wembley Stadium in London and JFK Stadium in Philadelphia, with an estimated 1.5 billion television viewers, and raised millions of dollars for famine relief in Ethiopia.¹⁴ Britannica names Bob Geldof as a key figure. The political question about a benefit concert is different from the question about a protest song. A benefit does not argue with government. It raises money while governments argue about aid. The record on whether it changed policy is not in the sources checked for this lesson, so none is claimed. What is verifiable is the size of the audience and the purpose, and that the form became a template for later benefit shows.

The September 19, 1985 hearing

This is the best documented event in the lesson, because the transcript exists. The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held a hearing titled Record Labeling on Thursday, September 19, 1985, reported as S. Hrg. 99-529.¹⁵ The chairman presiding was Senator John Danforth. He opened by saying, in the transcript's words, that "the reason for this hearing is not to promote any legislation," and that he knew of no proposal to pass a law.¹⁶ Senator Trible said "the issue before us is not prohibition." Senator Gore, whose wife Tipper Gore was a founder of the Parents Music Resource Center, said the proponents "are not asking for any form of censorship or regulation of speech."¹⁷ The first witness was Senator Paula Hawkins of Florida, who said she spoke as a legislator and as a parent.

Susan Baker and Tipper Gore of the Parents Music Resource Center appeared with Pamela Howar, Sally Nevius and Jeff Ling, a minister and consultant to the group, and Ling showed the committee a slide presentation. Earlier, Senator Hawkins had played two music videos, Van Halen's "Hot for Teacher" and Twisted Sister's "We're Not Going to Take It." The PMRC's stated position, in Baker's testimony, was that the group did not blame music for society's ills. In the transcript she says "we certainly do not blame music for the ills."¹⁸ The group asked the industry to put a rating or warning on records, and it said it wanted information for parents, not government regulation.

The artists were skeptical. Frank Zappa testified that "the PMRC proposal is an ill-conceived piece of nonsense."¹⁹ Elsewhere in his testimony he argued that rating an album rates the performer and that parents, not a label, should decide what children hear. John Denver told the committee, "I am not afraid of anything." Dee Snider of Twisted Sister told the senators that "most of our songs are about personal freedom."²⁰ Senator Hollings asked Zappa why rating albums was unfair when films are rated, said that printing the content on the album was "perhaps even better than the rating," and said he would look for regulation or some kind of legislation if it could be done constitutionally and the industry did not act on its own.²¹ Senator Exon said he might join Hollings or others in some kind of legislation, unless the industry cleaned up its act. Those statements show senators on the committee did not all share the chairman's framing.

The Parental Advisory program that followed is described by the RIAA on its own page. The association says its member companies created the program over four decades ago as a voluntary initiative, that the label reads "PARENTAL ADVISORY EXPLICIT CONTENT," that it is applied when an artist or label decides a work may be too explicit for mainstream distribution, and that artists and labels must sign a license agreement with the RIAA before using the mark.²² The RIAA does not represent retailers or online platforms. The 1985 industry agreement and the 1990 standardization of the logo that the course brief mentions were not confirmed on the sources checked, so the lesson leaves out those specific dates.

Witness or speaker	Position in the transcript	A short fragment
Sen. John Danforth (chair)	Hearing not meant to promote legislation	"not to promote any legislation"
Sen. Gore	PMRC proposals involve no government action	"not asking for any form of censorship"
Susan Baker, PMRC	Does not blame music for social ills; seeks parental information	"do not blame music for the ills"
Frank Zappa	Opposes rating albums; parents should decide	"ill-conceived piece of nonsense"
John Denver	Opposes labeling and pressure on artists	"I am not afraid of anything"
Dee Snider, Twisted Sister	Defends his band's songs as about personal freedom	"personal freedom"
Sen. Hollings	Asked Zappa why rating albums is unfair; preferred printing the content on the album	"even better than the rating"

N.W.A, the FBI letter and Cop Killer

N.W.A's Straight Outta Compton came out in 1988 on Eazy's Ruthless Records, distributed by Priority Records, according to the Library of Congress essay that put it on the National Recording Registry in 2016.²³ The National Coalition Against Censorship's account dates a letter from the FBI's Milt Ahlerich to Priority at August 1, 1989.²⁴ Ahlerich wrote that he objected to a song he said "encourages violence" against law enforcement, and that he believed his views reflected the opinion of the entire law enforcement community. The group's concerts were jeopardized or canceled in several cities, with the group briefly detained by police in Detroit, according to a Village Voice report the NCAC cites. Ahlerich said the letter was not meant to intimidate. Danny Goldberg of the ACLU of Southern California called such an attempt to influence artists completely inappropriate for a government agency.²⁵

Three years later came Ice-T. The Christian Science Monitor reported on August 3, 1992 that Body Count's album was released in March and that sales did not take off until Vice President Dan Quayle drew attention to the song "Cop Killer" about two months later.²⁶ Time Warner at first defended the group's First Amendment rights. EBSCO's research summary says a Fraternal Order of Police group threatened to boycott Time Warner products, that police representatives and critics, including Charlton Heston, attended the company's shareholders' meeting, and that President George H.W. Bush called Ice-T "sick."²⁷ On July 28, 1992 Ice-T said the decision to pull the song was his own and the company reissued the album without it.²⁸

These episodes differ in a way that matters in law and to a reporter. The FBI letter was a government agency expressing a view to a private distributor, with no charge brought. In the Ice-T case police unions, a vice president and shareholders applied public pressure to a private company, and the company and artist made the final decision. In the 2 Live Crew case, discussed next, a county sheriff and a federal judge were involved. The First Amendment constrains the last kind far more than the first two. In each case a reporter should say who acted, what power they held, and what the record shows they did with it.

2 Live Crew, Luke Records and the parody case

The Eleventh Circuit's opinion in Luke Records, Inc. v. Navarro, 960 F.2d 134, decided May 7, 1992, gives the legal facts.²⁹ A federal district court in 1990 (739 F. Supp. 578) had declared 2 Live Crew's album As Nasty As They Wanna Be obscene under the three part Miller test and a Florida statute. The panel reversed. The test is conjunctive, so all three parts must be met. The sheriff offered no evidence beyond the recording itself. The plaintiffs presented expert testimony that the work had serious artistic and musical value, and the sheriff did not rebut it. The court accepted that the judge could draw on his own knowledge of community standards for the first two parts but rejected the idea that a judge could decide a work lacks serious artistic value simply by listening to it.³⁰ The court did not decide whether the burden of proof was beyond a reasonable doubt or a preponderance.³¹

A related case reached the Supreme Court about the same group. In Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc., 510 U.S. 569, decided March 7, 1994, a unanimous Court (Justice Souter writing, Justice Kennedy concurring) held that a commercial parody can be fair use.³² Roy Orbison and William Dees wrote "Oh, Pretty Woman"; 2 Live Crew released a rap parody called "Pretty Woman." The Court rejected the lower court's presumption that commercial use is presumptively unfair, held that parody gets no presumption of fairness either, and said parody "needs to mimic an original to make its point."³³ It held that harm to the market from criticism is not the kind of harm the fourth factor counts, but that harm to the market for rap derivatives is relevant, and since neither side presented evidence on that market, summary judgment was improper.³⁴ The case was sent back.

The two rulings answer different questions. Luke Records is about whether the government could treat the album as obscene, and the court said it could not do so on this record. Campbell is about whether copying is excused. A song can be offensive and not obscene, and it can borrow heavily and still be a parody. Reporters mix them up constantly. Lesson 10 explains the four fair use factors in practice.

Case	Court and date	Subject	Result
Dead Kennedys, People v. Biafra and Bannano	Los Angeles, 1987	Poster in the album Frankenchrist; harmful matter to minors	Jury hung seven to five; judge refused retrial
Luke Records v. Navarro	11th Cir., May 7, 1992	Obscenity finding against As Nasty As They Wanna Be	Reversed; record did not support lack of serious value
Campbell v. Acuff-Rose	U.S. Supreme Court, March 7, 1994	Rap parody of Oh, Pretty Woman	Unanimous; commercial parody may be fair use; remanded
Body Count, Cop Killer	No court case; 1992	Police and political pressure on Time Warner	Ice-T pulled the song on July 28, 1992
N.W.A, FBI letter	No court case; August 1, 1989	Agency letter to Priority Records	No charge; concerts jeopardized in several cities

The Dixie Chicks, March 2003

The facts are short and well documented. At a concert in London on March 10, 2003, lead singer Natalie Maines told the audience, as quoted by a BYU student paper that month, that she and her bandmates were "ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas."³⁵ The reaction came quickly. The same article says country stations boycotted the group, that K-Bull 93 dropped their songs for two days in favor of patriotic tunes, and that a Louisiana station held a rally where listeners scattered the group's CDs on a road and ran over them with pickup trucks.³⁶ Maines issued a prepared statement apologizing to the president.

The policy question is what the radio chains did, and NPR's report of July 8, 2003 supplies it. The Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing on the dangers of concentrated ownership of radio stations, and the group's manager testified. Cumulus Broadcasting banned the group's music from its 270 radio stations after Maines's criticism of the president.³⁷ The sources checked do not give a date for the Cumulus ban, and they do not record the testimony of the company's own executive, so the lesson stops there. What the record supports is a private company's decision, a political reaction by listeners and station managers, and a legislative hearing on the structure of the industry. No government order stopped the music. That distinction, between private pressure and state censorship, comes up in every culture war story.

Kendrick Lamar and the Pulitzer

In 2018 the Pulitzer Prize for Music went to Kendrick Lamar for the album DAMN.³⁸ The Pulitzer Prizes page gives the year, the category and the work. The page gives the release date as April 14, 2017, and its citation calls the recording "a virtuosic song collection unified by its vernacular authenticity"³⁹ and goes on to describe the album's portrayal of the complexity of modern African American life. For a reporter the safest sentence is the one the prize site itself supports: the 2018 Music prize went to DAMN. by Kendrick Lamar.

Campaign songs: what the law actually says

Every presidential cycle brings a new story about a candidate and a song nobody cleared. The legal pieces are the same each time, and ASCAP's own guidance for political campaigns lays them out. A venue's ASCAP license typically excludes music at conventions and does not cover events organized by a third party such as a campaign, so the campaign needs its own license. ASCAP's Political Campaign License is a blanket license to perform any or all works in its repertory, and members can ask ASCAP to exclude specific songs, in which case ASCAP tells the campaign. The license extends only until the candidate is sworn into office.⁴⁰

The same guidance says what a performance license does not cover. Synchronization, meaning putting music into a video such as a campaign ad, needs separate permission from the publisher and possibly from the label if a master recording is used.⁴¹ Many states protect famous people's names and images, so an artist may have a right of publicity claim even when the performance is licensed. Using an artist's name or identifying work in a way that causes confusion can create liability under the Lanham Act, and a use can imply an endorsement that the artist never gave. ASCAP notes that the more closely a song is tied to a campaign's image or message, the more likely the artist is to object, and it recommends contacting the artist's management to get permission.⁴²

Dispute	Court and date	What was alleged	Outcome
Jackson Browne v. McCain, the Republican National Committee and the Ohio Republican Party	Suit filed 2008; settled July 21, 2009	Ohio party web video used Running on Empty to mock Barack Obama's energy plan; unauthorized use and implied endorsement	Court had declined to dismiss; joint apology saying the song was used without permission;43 party pledged to seek permission in future; financial terms undisclosed44
Neil Young v. Trump campaign	Suit filed August 2020; dismissal reported December 7, 2020	Rockin' in the Free World played at a Tulsa rally without a license and after Young objected	Voluntarily dismissed with prejudice, each side bearing its own costs45
Isaac Hayes Enterprises v. Trump	N.D. Ga., Judge Thomas Thrash; hearing September 3, 2024; written opinion September 11, 2024	Hold On, I'm Coming, a 1966 Sam and Dave song by Hayes and David Porter, played at least 133 times at campaign events46	Preliminary injunction against future use at rallies; judge refused to order removal of existing videos; campaign said it held a BMI license from November 2022; settlement announced in February 2026, terms not stated (AP via WTOP)47
Eddy Grant v. Trump	S.D.N.Y., Judge John Koeltl; summary judgment September 13, 2024	About 40 seconds of Electric Avenue in a 2020 animated video tweeted from Trump's account	Summary judgment for Grant on liability for infringement48
Celine Dion's management and Sony Music Entertainment Canada	Statement August 10, 2024, after a Bozeman rally on August 9	My Heart Will Go On played at Trump rallies in 2023 and 2024 without authorization	Public statement only; no suit appears in the sources checked49
Sam Moore (of Sam and Dave) and the Obama campaign	No suit; Moore's letter to the campaign, reported 2008	Hold On, I'm Comin' played at Obama campaign events; Moore wrote that he had not agreed to endorse the candidate	A campaign spokesman said the song would no longer be used (WFMY report); no court filing found50
MGMT and the UMP, the party of French president Nicolas Sarkozy	French dispute, 2009; no U.S. court	Kids used in two online party videos without permission	Rolling Stone's list says the party's one euro offer was called insulting and that it later settled for about 29,000 euros more, which MGMT donated to an artists' rights group; no primary record checked51

A pattern is visible in that table, and it needs careful stating. Every lawsuit on it that this lesson could verify involved a Republican campaign or party committee, and the artists in those cases come from several genres and generations. The two rows that do not are Sam Moore's 2008 letter to the Obama campaign, which stopped using the song and was not sued, and a 2009 French party dispute with MGMT. This lesson found no verified lawsuit against a Democratic campaign over a song, and the sources checked on artist objections (a Rolling Stone list of 35 disputes and a feature from The Current) name the Moore letter as their only Democratic example.⁵² That pattern is partly a matter of what got reported and partly of which campaigns used recorded music at large rallies. The law does not care who the candidate is. The same public performance, sync, publicity and Lanham Act theories apply to every campaign of every party, which is how ASCAP's guidance reads. Do not draw a rule from the sample.

Two details deserve a sentence each. In the Hayes case the campaign's lawyer said the campaign had already agreed not to use the song from then on and that it was important the judge declined to order removal of existing videos, while the campaign's filings argued that the estate had not shown it owned the copyright or was harmed and that background use is fair use.⁵³ In the Grant case, according to the Copyright Lately summary, the defense had argued that the sound recording was not properly registered and that its use was fair, and the judge granted summary judgment for Grant. The source gives the liability finding and does not spell out the reasoning on fair use, so this lesson does not either.

2023: Aldean, Oliver Anthony and country music's moment

Boston.com's August 22, 2023 report, drawing on The New York Times, Luminate and Billboard, gives the verifiable chart facts. Oliver Anthony's "Rich Men North of Richmond" debuted at number one on Billboard's Hot 100 on 17.5 million streams and 147,000 downloads, and Billboard said it was the first time an artist had debuted at number one with no prior chart history in any form.⁵⁴ The same report says Jason Aldean's "Try That in a Small Town" was the second country song in under a month to reach number one after a political controversy and a run of download sales. It spent one week at number one and fell twenty places after its streams and downloads dropped.⁵⁵ The sources checked do not cover the controversy over Aldean's music video, so the lesson does not describe it.

What the figures show is how the chart rewarded a burst of attention. A song that moves 147,000 downloads in a week, helped by a political argument about it, can top a chart that a month later it will leave. The two songs were not tied to the same political party and did not make the same argument. Reading both fairly means reading what each song's own author said, which the chart numbers do not supply.

February 9, 2025: the Super Bowl halftime show

Kendrick Lamar headlined the halftime show of Super Bowl LIX, played Sunday, February 9, 2025 in New Orleans. The Associated Press reported the next day that a member of the show's cast unfurled a flag combining the Sudanese and Palestinian flags with the words "Sudan" and "Gaza" written on it, that the person was detained on the field, and that NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy said the individual "will (be) banned for life from all NFL stadiums and events."⁵⁶ Roc Nation, which produced the show, said the act was neither planned nor part of the production. The show went on without interruption, and no charges had been filed at the time of the report.⁵⁷ Complex reported on March 26, 2025, citing TMZ, that the FCC had received 125 complaints about the show, citing lyrics, dancing and anti-American themes, with at least ten naming Drake and one targeting Serena Williams's appearance.⁵⁸ It also reports that about 133.5 million people watched the live broadcast.⁵⁹ The complaints are a count of what viewers sent the regulator. They are not findings by the regulator, and no source checked for this lesson reports any action by the FCC.

Streaming and the protest record

No verified count of protest songs on streaming services appears in the sources checked for this lesson, so none is given. What the verified episodes show is the mechanism. A song that goes viral reaches a chart through streams and downloads, as Oliver Anthony's did, without a radio campaign or a label. A song that offends can be pulled by a private company, as Cop Killer was, but the same song can sit on an artist's own site or a platform account the next day. The 1985 senators worried about a label on a vinyl sleeve. A viewer in 2025 filed complaints about a broadcast after about 133.5 million people had watched it. The institutions for resolving these fights, hearings and licenses and court dockets, are the same ones. The speed of the audience is what changed.

Questions and answers

What did Reagan actually say about Springsteen?

At Hammonton on September 19, 1984 he said that America's future rests in the message of hope in songs of a man so many young Americans admire, New Jersey's own Bruce Springsteen. He did not name a song. See the Reagan Library text.

Did the 1985 hearing produce a law?

No law came from it in the sources checked. The chairman said at the outset that the hearing was not meant to promote any legislation. The transcript shows two senators suggesting they might consider it. See S. Hrg. 99-529.

What is the Parental Advisory label?

The RIAA describes it as a voluntary program created by its member companies over four decades ago. Artists and labels must sign a license agreement with the RIAA to use the mark. The RIAA page says it does not represent retailers or online platforms.

Was an album ever ruled obscene and then reversed?

Yes. A district court in 1990 declared 2 Live Crew's As Nasty As They Wanna Be obscene, and the Eleventh Circuit reversed on May 7, 1992 in Luke Records v. Navarro.

Is a commercial parody ever fair use?

Yes. In Campbell v. Acuff-Rose the Court unanimously held that commercial use does not make a parody presumptively unfair, and it remanded the case for more evidence on the market.

Did anyone stop the Dixie Chicks from performing?

No government order is documented. A radio company, Cumulus, banned the group's music from its 270 stations, according to NPR, and country stations boycotted them, per the BYU report.

Can a campaign use any song at a rally if it has an ASCAP license?

For public performance of works in ASCAP's repertory, generally yes, with the member exclusion option and the end at swearing in, as ASCAP's guidance explains. The license does not cover video use, publicity claims or false endorsement claims.

What did the judge decide in the Isaac Hayes estate case?

Judge Thrash granted a preliminary injunction against future use of the song at campaign rallies and refused to order removal of existing videos, per the Associated Press and Copyright Lately. The estate and the campaign announced a settlement in February 2026, and the reports checked do not state its terms.

Hard questions

The PMRC hearing was just parents asking for a label. Why call it a censorship fight at all?

The PMRC witnesses said they were not asking for censorship, and Senator Gore and Senator Trible said the same. That is the strongest case for them, and the transcript supports it. The case against, made by Zappa, Denver and Snider, is that a rating attaches to the character of the person who made the record (Zappa's point), that the PMRC's presentation rests on fear (Denver's), and that, in Snider's words, most of his band's songs are about personal freedom. Senator Hollings and Senator Exon also said they might consider legislation. Both sides are on the record. The lesson does not settle it.

Wasn't the Cop Killer reaction a legitimate public complaint, since the song was about killing police?

People who objected made that case, and the Monitor's 1992 column argues that a song urging violence could go beyond protected speech. Time Warner and the artist argued that it was fiction and expression. The sources agree on what happened: public pressure, then a private decision by the artist to pull the song. No court held that the song was unlawful.

If the FBI letter did not charge anyone, why does it matter?

A government agency telling a distributor it objects to a song can chill sales and concerts without any prosecution. The NCAC and the ACLU's Danny Goldberg made that argument. Ahlerich said he did not intend intimidation. The record shows concerts were jeopardized in several cities. It does not show a causal order from the FBI.

Every campaign song lawsuit you list involved one party's campaign. Isn't that bias?

The sample is what was verified in this session, and it shows who used recorded music at large rallies and who was sued, not who the law favors. The one Democratic example found, Sam Moore's 2008 letter to the Obama campaign, ended without a suit. The legal theories apply to every campaign. A reporter who finds a comparable dispute involving another party should add it, with the same level of detail.

Was the 2025 halftime show an attack on the country or a normal show?

Complaints to the FCC, counted at 125 by TMZ, included viewers who called it anti-American and viewers who called it inappropriate, and some who objected to the performers. More than 133.5 million people watched. The record contains no regulatory finding. A fair report gives the complaint numbers, the audience and the stated reasons on each side, and leaves the verdict to the reader.

Learn more

• Reagan Library, Hammonton remarks, September 19, 1984: The primary text of the speech.
• S. Hrg. 99-529, Record Labeling: The 1985 transcript, where you can check every quoted fragment.
• RIAA, Parental Advisory Label: The program's own description and licensing rules.
• Luke Records v. Navarro: The Eleventh Circuit opinion on obscenity and the 2 Live Crew album.
• Campbell v. Acuff-Rose: The Supreme Court opinion on parody and fair use.
• ASCAP, political campaign guidance: Plain explanation of performance licenses, sync and publicity claims.
• NPR, Senate examines radio station blackout of Dixie Chicks: The 2003 hearing on radio ownership.
• NCAC, Straight Outta Compton's censorship lesson: The 1989 FBI letter and the reaction to it.
• The Current, Why can't musicians get politicians to stop playing their songs: A look at what artists can and cannot do.

Notes

1. Reagan Library, Remarks at a Reagan-Bush rally in Hammonton, New Jersey, September 19, 1984. Speech of September 19, 1984. Read it online. ↩
2. S. Hrg. 99-529, Record Labeling, Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, September 19, 1985, transcript mirror (cover and pages 1, 5, 10, 52, 60, 70, 80). Danforth opening statement, September 19, 1985. Read it online. ↩
3. Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc., 510 U.S. 569 (1994), Justia. Holding of March 7, 1994. Read it online. ↩
4. Boston.com, Viral hit Rich Men North of Richmond debuts at No. 1, August 22, 2023. Chart debut figures. Read it online. ↩
5. Complex, Kendrick Lamar and Drake Super Bowl halftime show, 125 FCC complaints, March 26, 2025. Complaint count and audience figure as reported. Read it online. ↩
6. Reagan Library, Remarks at a Reagan-Bush rally in Hammonton, New Jersey, September 19, 1984. Primary text of the Hammonton remarks. Read it online. ↩
7. PopHistoryDig, music and politics (Reagan, Springsteen in Pittsburgh September 22, 1984; George Will column September 13, 1984). Pittsburgh concert and Springsteen's remarks. Read it online. ↩
8. Treble, How Bruce Springsteen's Johnny 99 ended up an unlikely political statement. Springsteen and Johnny 99. Read it online. ↩
9. PopHistoryDig, music and politics (Reagan, Springsteen in Pittsburgh September 22, 1984; George Will column September 13, 1984). George Will column of September 13, 1984. Read it online. ↩
10. Michigan Daily, September 11, 1987, page 12 (Frankenchrist trial, hung jury). Michigan Daily report on the Frankenchrist trial. Read it online. ↩
11. Michigan Daily, September 11, 1987, page 12 (Frankenchrist trial, hung jury). Hung jury, retrial refused. Read it online. ↩
12. Michigan Daily, September 11, 1987, page 12 (Frankenchrist trial, hung jury). Prosecutor Guarino's statements. Read it online. ↩
13. Alternative Tentacles, Jello Biafra Cultural Terrorist 1987 (Frankenchrist trial). 1987 article on the trial as reposted by the label. Read it online. ↩
14. Britannica, Live Aid (July 13, 1985). Date, venues, audience estimate and purpose of Live Aid. Read it online. ↩
15. S. Hrg. 99-529, Record Labeling, Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, September 19, 1985, transcript mirror (cover and pages 1, 5, 10, 52, 60, 70, 80). Hearing of September 19, 1985, transcript mirror. Read it online. ↩
16. S. Hrg. 99-529, Record Labeling, Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, September 19, 1985, transcript mirror (cover and pages 1, 5, 10, 52, 60, 70, 80). Danforth opening, page 1. Read it online. ↩
17. S. Hrg. 99-529, Record Labeling, Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, September 19, 1985, transcript mirror (cover and pages 1, 5, 10, 52, 60, 70, 80). Gore statement. Read it online. ↩
18. S. Hrg. 99-529, Record Labeling, Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, September 19, 1985, transcript mirror (cover and pages 1, 5, 10, 52, 60, 70, 80). Baker testimony. Read it online. ↩
19. S. Hrg. 99-529, Record Labeling, Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, September 19, 1985, transcript mirror (cover and pages 1, 5, 10, 52, 60, 70, 80). Zappa testimony. Read it online. ↩
20. S. Hrg. 99-529, Record Labeling, Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, September 19, 1985, transcript mirror (cover and pages 1, 5, 10, 52, 60, 70, 80). Snider testimony. Read it online. ↩
21. S. Hrg. 99-529, Record Labeling, Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, September 19, 1985, transcript mirror (cover and pages 1, 5, 10, 52, 60, 70, 80). Hollings questioning. Read it online. ↩
22. RIAA, Parental Advisory Label program page. Program description and licensing terms. Read it online. ↩
23. Library of Congress, National Recording Registry essay: Straight Outta Compton (N.W.A). Release details and Registry listing. Read it online. ↩
24. National Coalition Against Censorship, Straight Outta Compton's censorship lesson (FBI letter, August 1, 1989). FBI letter from Milt Ahlerich. Read it online. ↩
25. National Coalition Against Censorship, Straight Outta Compton's censorship lesson (FBI letter, August 1, 1989). Goldberg statement and Ahlerich's denial of intent. Read it online. ↩
26. Christian Science Monitor, Ice-T's Indefensible Lyrics, August 3, 1992. Release in March 1992 and the Quayle remarks. Read it online. ↩
27. EBSCO Research Starters, Cop Killer song controversy. Boycott threats, shareholder meeting and Bush remark. Read it online. ↩
28. EBSCO Research Starters, Cop Killer song controversy. Ice-T statement of July 28, 1992. Read it online. ↩
29. Luke Records, Inc. v. Navarro, 960 F.2d 134 (11th Cir. 1992), OpenJurist. Eleventh Circuit opinion. Read it online. ↩
30. Luke Records, Inc. v. Navarro, 960 F.2d 134 (11th Cir. 1992), OpenJurist. Reasoning on serious artistic value. Read it online. ↩
31. Luke Records, Inc. v. Navarro, 960 F.2d 134 (11th Cir. 1992), OpenJurist. Burden of proof left undecided. Read it online. ↩
32. Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc., 510 U.S. 569 (1994), Justia. Holding and lineup. Read it online. ↩
33. Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc., 510 U.S. 569 (1994), Justia. Quoted language on parody. Read it online. ↩
34. Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc., 510 U.S. 569 (1994), Justia. Fourth factor analysis and remand. Read it online. ↩
35. BYU Universe, Dixie Chicks hurt by antipatriotic statement, March 26, 2003. March 10, 2003 London concert as quoted. Read it online. ↩
36. BYU Universe, Dixie Chicks hurt by antipatriotic statement, March 26, 2003. Station boycotts and the rally. Read it online. ↩
37. NPR, Senate examines radio station blackout of Dixie Chicks, July 8, 2003. Senate hearing and the Cumulus ban. Read it online. ↩
38. The Pulitzer Prizes, Kendrick Lamar, 2018 Music. 2018 Music prize. Read it online. ↩
39. The Pulitzer Prizes, Kendrick Lamar, 2018 Music. Citation and release date. Read it online. ↩
40. ASCAP, guidance on using music in political campaigns. Political Campaign License terms. Read it online. ↩
41. ASCAP, guidance on using music in political campaigns. Synchronization and master use. Read it online. ↩
42. ASCAP, guidance on using music in political campaigns. Publicity, Lanham Act and endorsement points. Read it online. ↩
43. NBC Los Angeles, Jackson Browne, Republicans settle lawsuit, July 21, 2009. Suit filed 2008 and the July 21, 2009 settlement. Read it online. ↩
44. Christian Science Monitor, McCain apologizes to Jackson Browne, July 21, 2009. Settlement and apology of July 21, 2009. Read it online. ↩
45. BrooklynVegan, Neil Young drops his lawsuit against Donald Trump campaign, December 7, 2020. Dismissal reported December 7, 2020. Read it online. ↩
46. Associated Press via ClickOnDetroit, Trump campaign must stop using Hold On, I'm Coming, September 3, 2024. Hayes case, hearing of September 3, 2024. Read it online. ↩
47. Associated Press via WTOP, Isaac Hayes estate settles lawsuit accusing Trump of unauthorized song use, February 2026. Settlement reported February 2026. Read it online. ↩
48. Copyright Lately, Trump Campaign Due In Court Twice This Week on Copyright Claims (Aaron Moss), September 2024. Grant ruling of September 13, 2024. Read it online. ↩
49. ABC30, Celine Dion criticizes Trump campaign for unauthorized use of her music, August 12, 2024. Dion statement of August 2024. Read it online. ↩
50. WFMY, Sam Moore wants Obama camp to stop using his song. Moore letter to the Obama campaign. Read it online. ↩
51. Rolling Stone, Stop Using My Song: 35 Artists Who Fought Politicians Over Their Music (Sam Moore and Obama; MGMT and the UMP). MGMT and the UMP, and the Moore letter. Read it online. ↩
52. The Current (Minnesota Public Radio), Why can't musicians get politicians to stop playing their songs, September 29, 2020. Feature on artists and politicians, September 29, 2020. Read it online. ↩
53. Associated Press via ClickOnDetroit, Trump campaign must stop using Hold On, I'm Coming, September 3, 2024. Campaign lawyer statements and filings. Read it online. ↩
54. Boston.com, Viral hit Rich Men North of Richmond debuts at No. 1, August 22, 2023. Billboard statement on Anthony's debut. Read it online. ↩
55. Boston.com, Viral hit Rich Men North of Richmond debuts at No. 1, August 22, 2023. Aldean chart run. Read it online. ↩
56. Associated Press via WHIO, Super Bowl halftime performer detained after unfurling flag, February 10, 2025. Flag incident and NFL statement, February 10, 2025. Read it online. ↩
57. Associated Press via WHIO, Super Bowl halftime performer detained after unfurling flag, February 10, 2025. Roc Nation statement. Read it online. ↩
58. Complex, Kendrick Lamar and Drake Super Bowl halftime show, 125 FCC complaints, March 26, 2025. FCC complaints reported March 26, 2025. Read it online. ↩
59. Complex, Kendrick Lamar and Drake Super Bowl halftime show, 125 FCC complaints, March 26, 2025. Audience figure. Read it online. ↩