McCain Ad Prompts Lawsuit

Musician Jackson Browne has filed a lawsuit against Republican presidential candidate John McCain. According to Lawrence Y. Iser, Browne's lawyer, the suit was prompted by the McCain campaign's unauthorized use of one of the artist's songs, reported the New York Times.

The commercial, which featured the singer-songwriter's 1977 hit, "Running on Empty," was shown in Ohio, and has already been removed from television as well as the Internet, following a cease-and-desist letter from Browne's lawyer. According to the New York Times, the letter was addressed to the Ohio Republican Party, however, the official complaint also named the Republican National Committee as well as McCain himself.

But Brian Rogers, a spokesperson for McCain, insists that the commercial was created independently by the Ohio Republican Party and was in no way linked to the national McCain campaign.

"This campaign has never run any ad using any portion of Mr. Browne's song," Rogers said in a statement, reported by the Times. "If the complaint names the McCain campaign, Mr. Browne and his lawyers have picked the wrong target."

Despite this, Iser refused to drop the suit, which was filed in Los Angeles Federal District Court, and according to the Times, continues to seek undisclosed damages in addition to an injunction against the inclusion of the copyrighted material in the Ohio commercial.

The commercial criticized Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama for suggesting that Americans keep the proper pressure in their tires as a means of gasoline conservation.