But the fact is that he doesn’t, and that’s at least part of the problem.  Snider recently told Paul Ryan to stop mooching his meal-ticket, stating “There is almost nothing he stands for that I agree with except the use of the P90X.”  This comes a couple weeks after Tom Morello told the Republican VP candidate that namedropping RATM was not cool.  In Morello’s case, he’s pretty pissed off about Ryan’s policies; it’s clear that you’d never hear “Killing in the Name” at a Republican rally.  But quite often, it’s not about partisan politics.  After all, Snider lent his song to Republican gubernator Arnold Schwarzenegger’s campaign a few years back…

No, rather it’s about copyright.  Just ask the guys from Survivor, who sued Newt Gingrich over “Eye of the Tiger” in the heat of the Republican primaries.  As Billboard reported at the time, “The complaint says that Gingrich has used the song without authorization at various conferences and campaign rallies. The plaintiff claims this is a violation of the song’s copyright and demands an injunction to put a stop to Gingrich’s choice of entrance music.”  The 80’s pop band, who say their prayers to Sylvester Stallone every time they go to sleep, aren’t the only artists to use this line of defense, either.  As the CBC reports, Sarah Palin ran into trouble with classic rockers Heart in ’08, who said the Republican campaign never sought their permission for the rights to use “Barracuda.” 

Even more interesting, in 2010, Kentucky senatorial candidate Rand Paul used music from Rush for his campaign, and received a letter from the band stating that he was violating copyright laws.  In response, Paul’s campaign manager said, “The background music Dr. Paul has played at events is a non-issue. The issues that matter in this campaign are cutting out-of-control deficits, repealing Obama Care and opposing cap and trade.”  I guess it’s OK to take money away from job creators as long as they’re Canadian, is that it?