Don’t be fooled by the uplifting pop numbers or their penchant for faux-tribal threads the seemingly laid back dudes from MGMT can play hardball as well as they play hacky sack. The duo are suing French President Nicolas Sarkozy after his party used their song “Kids” for promotional purposes. Who said stoners were unproductive?
AFP Reports:MGMT’s lawyer took action last week against Sarkozy’s Union for using the hugely popular track “Kids” at its national congress in January and in two online videos.
The UMP’s public relations firm has admitted using the track without permission, but says it was an unintentional mistake, and has offered the band one euro (1.25 dollars) in symbolic damages for copyright infringement. But MGMT’s French lawyer Isabelle Wekstein rejected the offer on Wednesday as “insulting”, and repeated her demand for full financial compensation, short of which she intends to sue the party.
“This offer is disrespectful of the rights of artists and authors. It is insulting,” she told AFP. “We are dealing with acts of counterfeiting, an infringement of intellectual property.”
Ironically the row comes a week before the French parliament starts examining a new law championed by Sarkozy’s party, pushing for tougher penalties for online piracy and file-sharing on the Internet.
