Don Henley Wins Copyright Lawsuit Against California Politician

Rockers such as Jackson Browne, John Mellencamp and David Byrne have had major beef in the past few years with politicians whose views they don't support using their songs in campaign ads. Now Don Henley has joined that group, after a California senatorial candidate tried to get cute with freedom of speech laws. But this time, instead of adopting a popular song without permission, Chuck DeVore reworked Henley's 'The Boys of Summer' into a parody called 'Hope of November,' which poked fun at Barack Obama and Hollywood liberals.

Henley heard about the offending tune once DeVore's YouTube campaign gained in popularity. When the Eagles frontman asked the video website to remove the ad, a riled-up DeVore turned Henley's 'All She Wants to Do Is Dance' into 'All She Wants to Do Is Tax.' In retaliation, Henley filed suit against the current assemblyman last year, claiming copyright infringement. DeVore responded that the songs were parodies and therefore protected under free speech laws.

It was a nice try by the politician, but on Tuesday, a California judge issued a 32-page ruling that basically said DeVore is out of luck. Judge James Selna quantified the difference between parody and satire and said that the songs failed to make fun of either Henley or the original song, instead taking his song to make fun of a separate subject. Proving he is an expert at pop culture lawsuits, Selna cited a variety of other trials -- including J.D. Salinger's victory over the purported 'Catcher in the Rye Sequel' and Tom Waits taking a bite out of Frito-Lay for using a voice similar to his -- in siding with Henley in what is at least a tentative ruling. The two sides continue to argue, but as the Hollywood Reporter's Esq. Blog reports, story points out, the judge is unlikely to suddenly change his mind.

On the bright side, DeVore -- who penned the songs himself -- has a fallback career as a parody songwriter if he loses the election.