Rush Issue Cease & Desist Letter to Rush Limbaugh

Good Rush Bad Rush
Rush's management and legal teams have formally issued a Cease & Desist letter to Rush Limbaugh, the American radio talk show host and conservative political commentator, demanding that he stop using snippets of the band's music during his radio show. Here's the actual letter:
The Rush Limbaugh Show 1270 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10020 RushLimbaugh.com Premiere Radio Networks.

Ladies & Gentlemen:

I am the attorney for Rush, their management company, S.R.O. Management Inc., their music publishing company, Core Music Publishing and their record company, The Anthem Entertainment Group Inc.

According to media reports, Rush Limbaugh, Premiere Radio Networks and The Rush Limbaugh Show have been using Rush's recorded music as part of what is essentially a political broadcast.

The use of Rush's music in this way is an infringement of Rush's copyrights and trademarks. The public performance of Rush's music is not licensed for political purposes and any such use is in breach of public performance licenses and constitutes copyright infringement. There are civil and criminal remedies for copyright infringement, including statutory damages and fines.

(see sections 501-513 of Title 17 of the United States Code http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap5.html)

In addition, the use of Rush's music in this manner implies an endorsement of the views expressed and products advertised on the show, and is in breach of not only copyright and trademark rights, but also, of section 51 of the New York Civil Rights Law (excerpt attached).

Accordingly, we hereby demand that you immediately stop all use of Rush's music and confirm that you will do so.

Yours very truly,
Robert A. Farmer
Director of Legal Affairs
S.R.O. Management Inc.,
Core Music Publishing
The Anthem Entertainment Group Inc.
You can read more about this at this LINK.

Thanks to all of you for sending this news my way and for Ed from RushIsABand for the great image!

Comments

  1. How sad to see such a great band entangle itself in petty, partisan politics :-(

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  2. Too bad - I always enjoyed hearing snippets of our favorite trio on Maja Rushie's show. (:

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  3. Maybe the evil "Watchmaker" could be Rush Limbaugh snippets?

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  4. Good for Rush (the band)....why should they let Limbaugh use their music? How does that have anything to do with politics?

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  5. The sad part is that now it is being just as politicized by the other side (considering that the link is to the huffing(and puffing)ton post)...

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  6. Blah, blah, blah. . .

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  7. Wow. I'm so disappointed in the band for this. :(

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  8. Senseless. I've known for years the band didn't care for Limbaugh (Test For Echo album premiere). So what? I can still enjoy my favorite band even though I may not agree with their political or religious views. Filing this letter does more to dishearten those who are fans of both Rushes, than to bring in new (paying) band customers.

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    1. I simply can't imagine someone being a fan of both. To analogize, that's like being fans of both John Steinbeck and Kim Kardashian. Just doesn't compute.

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    2. Seconded, and standing at the weird intersection between both kinds of Rush fans is Ayn Rand, whose beliefs on human relations were not only bizarre but extremely hypocritical. Her books are atrocious, totally unreadable in my opinion, but she has a substantial following in the US. Among the litterati in her native Russia, which includes some true heavyweights, she isn't even a nobody - they couldn't care less about her.

      After encountering her works in high school, and regarding them as rubbish, I looked at 2112 in a different light: Neil found the book by chance (on public transport!) and resistance to tyranny is a good story unless you're the tyrant. These days, Ayn Rand is one of the compass points of the fascist/corporate right in America, who very much are tyrants (or wannabes). I wonder what Neil would say about that?

      The band was 100% correct in their C&D order. Even if Rush agreed with Rush, he'd still have to pay them to use their music, just like it sez on the Free Market label.

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  9. I applaud the band and management for not wanting to be associated with Limbaugh. It's also pretty gimmicky he's using Rush's music because of the name play.

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  10. Ha...they are a little late to the party. I remember hearing snippets of Rush's music on the Rush Limbaugh show around 20 years ago.

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