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New York: A rock band has called in lawyers after Governor Sarah Palin, the Republican vice-presidential candidate, adopted one of its hit songs as her unofficial anthem.
American politicians dip liberally into the rock and pop back catalogue during election campaigns, but Ann and Nancy Wilson, the singers from Heart, said the Republicans should have asked permission before using their 1970s hit Barracuda at Palin's address to the Republican National Convention last week.
Not impressed that Palin was nicknamed "Sarah Barracuda'" as a high school basketball player, the Wilsons have sent a "cease and desist" lawyer's letter to the Republicans ordering them not to use the song again.
"The Republican campaign did not ask for permission to use the song, nor would they have been granted that permission," the sisters said in a statement.
A spokesman for Senator John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, said the appropriate licences had been obtained.
"The McCain campaign respects intellectual property rights. Accordingly, prior to using Barracuda at any events, we paid for and obtained all necessary licences," he said.
Under US copyright law, the Heart song is licensed for public performance under a blanket fee paid by the convention venue in St Paul to ASCAP, an artists' royalties collection company.
Roger Fisher, Heart's former guitarist, said he would donate a percentage of the royalties to Senator Barack Obama's presidential election campaign. The Telegraph Group Limited, London 2008
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