MGMT settles with Sarkozy's party to the tune of $47,860
Last Updated: Wednesday, April 29, 2009 | 11:56 AM ET
CBC News
U.S. music duo MGMT has settled a dispute with French President Nicolas Sarkozy's party for using one of its songs at a political rally without permission.
The Brooklyn-based group had threatened to sue the party after officials admitted it used Kids, from the duo's 2007 release Oracular Spectacular, at its national congress and twice in online campaign videos.
The Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP) had in fact paid a standard €53 fee ($75.54 Cdn) to France's music licensing body, but MGMT's lawyer Isabelle Wekstein says that this was not enough to cover uses of the song over the web.
The party had offered to pay MGMT a symbolic one euro in compensation, which the band dismissed as "disrespectful of the rights of artists and authors."
MGMT will reportedly be getting €30,000 ($47,860 CDN) from the UMP.
The band — which consists of Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden — posted a statement on its website over the weekend.
"We did not want to be 'typical Americans' and sue, despite the amazing monetary benefit and chinchilla coats and Navigators it would bring, instead we are using the settlement fee the UMP presented and donating it to artists' rights organizations."
MGMT also said it was particularly alarmed that Sarkozy's party would use its music while it promoted a platform that pushed anti-piracy legislation.
"[The] fact that the UMP used our song without permission while simultaneously pushing anti-piracy legislation seemed a little wack.
"We believe that access to music benefits both the musicians and the fans, and has undoubtedly helped spread our music around the globe, while also expanding our personal musical collections."
Sarkozy's government reintroduced a bill on Tuesday that would disconnect people caught downloading music illegally three times.
The bill is being debated in the French parliament.
