Fall Out Boy, Mick Jagger, Lorde and 54 other prominent music artists signed an open letter on Tuesday demanding that political candidates seek “consent” from artists and songwriters before using their songs in a campaign setting.
“This is the only way to effectively protect your candidates from legal risk, unnecessary public controversy, and the moral quagmire that comes from falsely claiming or implying an artist’s support or distorting an artists’ expression in such a high stakes public way,” the letter, which was also signed by Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, Lionel Richie, Sia and Courtney Love, said.
Over the past few years, numerous artists have come out strongly against the use of their songs during political rallies and campaign events — particularly when it comes to the Trump campaign — by sending cease-and-desist letters or publicly denouncing the use of their songs at these events.