Musician David Byrne sues Florida governor over campaign song

May 25, 2010 , the former lead singer of 1980s band, is suing Florida governor  over the latter's use of the Talking Heads song "" in an election commercial. Byrne alleges that Crist made use of the song in a campaign commercial without the artist's permission, and that if permission had been asked Byrne would have declined it.

Byrne told the BBC that the lawsuit, in which the musician is claiming $1 million in damages, is "not about politics, it's about copyright". In his personal, though, Byrne commented: "Besides being theft, use of the song and my voice in a campaign ad implies that I, as writer and singer of the song, might have granted Crist permission to use it, and that I therefore endorse him and/or the , of which he was a member until very, very recently." Governor Crist is running for election to the as an.

The lawsuit was filed early Monday afternoon in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida in and has been assigned Case Number 8:10-CV1187-T26 (MAP). Byrne is represented by, the attorney who represented when Browne successfully sued  in a similar lawsuit in 2008.

The advertisement, which premiered on January 12, 2010 and has since been withdrawn from use, attacked politician Marco Rubio over reversals in Rubio's public positions. The video has been blocked on video hosting site "due to a copyright claim by ."

Governor Crist's campaign had no comment on the lawsuit.