Florida governor Charlie Crist has filed court papers telling David Byrne that media consultants Stevens and Schriefer Group should be held responsible for the unauthorized use of Talking Heads classic "Road to Nowhere" in a political ad. Back in May, we reported that Byrne was suing Crist for using the song in an attack on senatorial opponent Marco Rubio, and provided some more appropriate song suggestions from the Talking Heads discography. Byrne later explained his action as an attempt to "maintain control of his identity and his music."
The legal documents are attached below for perusal.
PDF: Answer of Defendant Charlie Crist:
"Crist did not willfully infringe upon Plaintiffs' copyrights orThe key word: willfully. We're still siding with Byrne on this one. At least Crist is willing to give some credit to the Talking Heads' studio personnel for the Little Creatures sessions. The recording is indeed sound (used as an adjective), and often fantastic.trademark. Crist believed at all relevant times that SSG obtained
permission to use the Sound Recording and otherwise complied with all
prerequisites to publication. Crist would have prevented publication of
the Sound Recording had he known Plaintiffs did not consent to the use.
Crist did not select the Sound Recording, authorize use of the Sound
Recording, or post the Sound Recording to YouTube."
