Editorial:

Eagles drummer Don Henley doesn’t like what Assemblyman and senatorial candidate Chuck DeVore has done with his songs to promote his political causes.

That’s to be expected.

Henley’s a known crusader for liberal causes.

What’s unknown is how his attempt to stop DeVore from using his music will fare.

Henley sued DeVore, who is trying to get the GOP nomination to challenge U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer next year, after he and his online marketing manager Justin Hart produced two YouTube videos using Henley’s music with new lyrics. Think those old Mad magazine “Sung to the tune of...” gags.

In the first one, DeVore wrote new lyrics for “The Boys of Summer” to poke fun at President Obama’s supporters.

In the second one, DeVore wrote new lyrics for “All She Wants to do is Dance,” to criticize Boxer and her support of cap-and-trade energy policies. Naturally, the song became “All She Wants to do is Tax,” and the video went viral.

Then Henley objected and the videos came down. The lawsuit followed. DeVore has filed a counterclaim arguing Henley is restricting his right to free speech.

We might think Henley’s a better singer than Hart and perhaps even a more poetic lyricist than DeVore, but on the question of the law it appears DeVore has the upper hand.

Henley’s lawyers are arguing that DeVore is trying to capitalize on Henley’s fame to gain political and financial advantage.

So?

DeVore is not running a private company making profits off the songs. He’s a politician making a point with satire and he’s well within his rights and is protected under the 1st Amendment. There are numerous cases of politicians or activists using copyrighted material to parody something that have been upheld in the courts. As for Henley’s argument that he is profiting because the videos link to his web page, which also contains a link for fundraising is a stretch since the video itself does not encourage donations. And it stands to reason that every politician is raising money for a campaign. For Henley to prevail he would have to convince a judge that politicians are never allowed to use copyrighted material in a parody. That’s an unconstitutional standard.

We also fail to see how Henley is damaged in this case. If anything, the use of his music publicizes the songs and probably leads to new sales. And it’s difficult to see how anyone would draw the conclusion that Henley is now endorsing DeVore. Even the most casual political observer would know better.

If anyone’s being hurt here it’s DeVore who cannot use his video at a time when cap-and-trade is a hot-button issue.

We appreciate Henley’s dogged attempt to protect his art, as we are the creative types as well. But we hold the 1st Amendment most sacred and if forced to chose we’ll always go with free speech.