Kim Davis and Governor Mike Huckabee is being sued by the band "Survivor" for using their song. Can they do this?

Yes they can sue them for Copyright Infringement. Unfortunately it will take several years and it will be settled out of court for an unspecified amount and the lawyers will get 2/3s and Politicians will not pay but their Election Campaigns will. Your donations to your candidate will pay for their Ignorance of the Law and Lack of Social Awareness.

what? why? This is crazy...why is this country so sue happy? There should be laws on being able to sue and a cap on the rewards.

Bingo SSG Cf Grant.

Sgt Kelli Mays - There are laws on being able to sue. They allow anyone to sue anyone else for anything. It is then up to the courts to decide the merit of the suit. In cases such as this, the suit is legitimate. The artists/labels own the music. If a politician wants to use the music, then they need to pay the royalties. We pay the royalties when we buy the music in whatever format we choose to purchase it in. Radio stations pay for the use of the music. TV and movies pay for the use of the music, or have music composed specifically for their programming. Politicians are no different (despite what they may think) when it comes to the use of music. Artists earn their living from the revenue generated by their music. They own the rights, and should be paid for its public use.

Additionally, once a song is used for a political issue, the song becomes associated with that. Political issues generate an emotional response in people. Once the song is associated with the event, for better or worse, that is a permanent link. If the artist does not want their song used for political events, or events that they are opposed, then they have the right to not have it used.

On a side note, this is not limited to politics. Several months ago Facebook had issues because they were allowing advertisers to use images from a user's profile for targeted advertising. I received some of those adds, and I was a little pissed off that my friends' profile pictures were being used in an effort to get me to click on a link.

SGT Jerrold Pesz PVT James Strait I think personally that this is more a matter of they don't want their music associated with Ms. Davis' ideology. The suit would not likely be thrown out as it would deal with the unauthorized public use of copyrighted material.

ok..I see...however I don't see how they can sue. This world or the US is just to SUE happy.

Sgt Kelli Mays - It's probably more like they are getting a "cease and desist" order, which can escalate to a lawsuit if Kim & Mike continue to use the song for their agendas. Admittedly, the group will have to prove that they suffered harm, but copyright law tends to favor copyright holder.

Imagine if your image was being used to sell a product you were opposed to, basically. If you consider yourself a strong believing Christian but found that the Church of Scientology was using your image on a pamphlet to hand out to people saying "convert to Scientology like these folks did!" You'd probably want to put a stop to it.

SSG (Join to see) - I agree, unless they feel that through the use of the song, they have been viewed as you said endorsing the message. In which case they may just go right to the law suit. Thing is there is an old saying about not getting blood from a turnip. If they sue for damages, what can they really get from it? I think that if they sue, and don't want to be seen as bullying, the only thing they can ask for is the cease and desist, and a written apology. That way they show compassion as well as getting the use of their music stopped.