Nobody Cleared the Soundtrack: Political Campaigns, Advocacy Media, and the Rights Behind the Message
By Casey Scott McKay ·
Political and advocacy media is produced at speed, under pressure, by people whose first concern is the message. The rights underneath it are the same rights that govern any other content, with three complications: the speech interest is unusually strong, the counterparties are unusually motivated, and the timeline leaves no room to fix anything. This article works through music at rallies and in advertisements, news footage and photography, the likeness and false endorsement claims that artists actually bring, the fair use analysis for parody and criticism, platform policies that operate faster than any court, and the synthetic media statutes now arriving. It closes with what a campaign should decide before it produces anything.
IP and Technology > Internet | Article | Published 23 October 2025 - Updated 23 May 2026 | Casey Scott McKay - marksy.us
The recurring news story
Every election cycle produces the same story. A campaign plays a song at a rally. The artist objects, publicly and angrily. Commentators debate whether the campaign was allowed to. The campaign stops using the song, or does not, and the story fades.
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