Newt Gingrich has been sued for playing the Grammy-award winning Eye of the Tiger at his political rallies. Rude Music Inc, which is owned by Frank Sullivan, who co-wrote the song, filed suit against Gingrich, his campaign, Newt 2012 Inc, and the American Conservative Union for copyright infringement.
The suit alleges that Gingrich is knowledgable about copyright issues and that the violation is therefore knowledgable. Sullivan requests a court order requiring Gingrich stop playing the song at rallies and award damages.
The song is closely associated with the movie Rocky III (and the Rocky franchise in general), and was originally written in 1982 at the request of Sylvester Stallone for the movie. It was the number one song of 1982, and won a Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. And now, because I’m sure we could all stand an afternoon pick-me-up, here’s the music video: