Nicolas Sarkozy’s UMP party used MGMT’s song “Kids” at their national congress and in two campaign videos, but did not ask permission or pay the band. When the political party and President Sarkozy were made aware of the “mistake,” they offered the band compensation of one euro. Oh, it’s on now.
“This offer is disrespectful of the rights of artists and authors. It is insulting,” MGMT’s lawyer Isabelle Wekstein told AFP (via BBC News). “We are dealing with acts of counterfeiting, an infringement of intellectual property.”
Although the UMP has paid a 53 euro fee to use the song at the national congress, MGMT has rejected their additional one euro gesture because their lawyer claims the fee does not cover online use of the song.