I'm a little behind the curve on this issue but this may be the perfect mix of politics and music into one story...This story is from Wired.com and talks about how the musicians group ASCAP [that's the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers for those of you scoring at home...] might sue the government for using their member's music in torture...It may not be the Bush administration's biggest worry about Gitmo policy -- after all, they've lost both Supreme Court cases about detainee treatment and Barack Obama and John McCain, who agree on little else, both want the place shut down.David Gray -- BabylonInsult, meet injury: Now there is talk that the US government may owe royalties on the song that has been blared over and over and over again to to weaken detainees' resolve of "War on Terror" prisoners warehoused there.
Most prominently US forces in Guantanamo Bay have played David Gray's "Babylon" on heavy rotation -- not that the song itself constitutes torture, of course.
Arguably, that constitutes a public performance and conceivably makes it subject to royalties owed ASCAP and BMI.
From the Greatest Hits record.
