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Bon Jovi Joins Rock Horde Mad at McCain

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Bj_myspace_3John McCain has run afoul of Foo Fighters, Van Halen, Heart, Jackson Browne, John Mellencamp and even that hack Paris Hilton. But the hits just keep on coming: On Wednesday, Bon Jovi added his name to the list of rockers angry at the McCain-Palin campaign for using their tunes for political purposes.

"We are surprised to hear that our song, ‘Who Says You Can’t Go Home’ was used by the McCain campaign at rallies yesterday and today." Jon Bon Jovi explained in a statement furnished to AOL’s tabloid TMZ.com. "Although we were not asked, we do not approve of their use of ‘Home.’"

Of course, the band was likely paid for the use, as a McCain spokesman clarified during the dust-up with the Foo Fighters. That’s because the campaign probably paid a fat chunk of money to the performing-rights organization American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) for the honor of lifting songs that run counter to the political interests of the bands that wrote them. After all, Jon Bon Jovi recently hosted a $30,000-a-plate fund-raiser for Obama.

But that fact does not a copyfight make, legally speaking.

"The McCain-Palin campaign respects copyright," Brian Rogers told the Associated Press last week. "This campaign has obtained and paid for licenses from performing rights organizations, giving us permission to play millions of different songs."

But there are other issues to consider. It is right to take money from organizations or individuals artists might not want to associate with? Do artists have any recourse to protest or rescind the licenses in circumstances like these? Or are they they just hypocrites who will sell their songs and then complain about it later? Listening Post contacted ASCAP about these conundrums, and it is fielding our questions. We’ll report back the results soon.

But probably not before another artist gets mad at John McCain.

Photo: Bon Jovi @ MySpace

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