Rush Order American Politician to Stop Using Their Music

Canadian rockers Rush were none too happy to find out that an American politician was using their music for his Senate bid. Kentucky's Republican candidate Rand Paul, a fan of the band, has been ordered to stop using Rush songs in his online ads and at campaign events.

According to reports, Robert Farmer, attorney for Rush's Toronto-based record label, Anthem Entertainment Group Inc., sent a cease and desist letter to Paul's campaign officials asking them to stop using the music. "This is not a political issue-this is a copyright issue," Farmer said. "We would do this no matter who it is."

Farmer said Paul did not have permission to use the music and noted that bassist/singer Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson and drummer Neil Peart are also Canadian.

Farmer said he alerted YouTube, which disabled the audio in the campaign ad.

Last month, after Paul, the son of Congressman and former Presidential candidate Ron Paul, won the Republican Senatorial primary, the owner of Rush fan site Rushisaband.com blogged: "Although he's not actually named after Ayn Rand (it's just short for Randall), Paul does happens [sic] to be a Rush fan and is known to play/quote Rush at his campaign rallies as I'd mentioned last year. In his victory party Tuesday night he arrived to Rush's 'The Spirit of Radio' playing in the background."

He then posted a blog from a Paul supporter who traveled with him last summer: "I learned that Rand Paul is a fan of the best band ever: Rush. You heard it here first: Rand Paul loves Rush music. He said that sometimes in speeches he likes to highlight government corruption and the GOP's drift from its core values by quoting from the Rush song 'Spirit of the Radio,' which says, 'Glittering prizes and endless compromises shatter the illusion of integrity.' He also likes 'The Trees.'"