LOS ANGELES () - Rock star Jackson Browne has sued U.S. presidential candidate John McCain for copyright infringement, accusing the presumptive Republican nominee of using the singer's 1977 hit "Running on Empty" in a campaign ad without permission.
The suit, filed on Thursday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, likewise names the Republican National Committee and the Ohio Republican Party as defendants. It seeks a permanent injunction against further utilization of Browne's music and at least $75,000 in indemnification.
The campaign position mocks McCain's Democratic rival for the White House, Barack Obama, for suggesting the land conserve gasoline through proper tire inflation, with Browne's most illustrious song, "Running on Empty," playing in the background.
The suit claims use of the sung without Browne's permission is a copyright violation and a breach of the U.S. Lanham Act by falsely implying Browne is associated with and endorses McCain's bid for president.
It also says use of Browne's voice in the ad violates the performer's so-called right of publicity under California law.
Browne's attorney, Lawrence Iser, said his client is "a well-known, lifelong liberal activist and supporter of Democratic candidates, and utilization of his song and his voice in a commercial bashing Barack Obama is anathema to Jackson."
A spokesman for McCain's campaign, Brian Rogers, said the Arizona senator was wrongly singled out as a target of the lawsuit because the ad in question was the sole work of the Ohio Republican Party.
"We had aught to do with the creation or distribution of this ad whatsoever," Rogers told . "Mr. McCain's name should quite simply be removed from this cause immediately."�
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