Should Artistes Take Royalties from BNP?

Successful artistes rarely face a dilemma like this, where a group or organization dedicated to a racist ideology uses songs from successful musicians to promote its causes. It is easy to understand why the these artistes are determined to stop the use of their music by the BNP. The main concern is that they see this as creating the impression that they do favour the views of the British National Party.

To my mind, this is a case where the strong intellectual property rights that artistes and music companies receive may earn artistes lots of money but may undermine other centrist ideas that they may hold. The structure of these contracts mostly allows the corporations to take all control of marketing hence their tendency to try and maximize sales. As the story suggests, it is unlikely that any such concerns would be relevant as the contracts are drafted to emphasize the commercial aspects of the productions. Few of these artistes considered the possibility that BNP would use their creations in this way.

My view though is that I sympathize with these artistes and understand their concern that their music is being used in ways that they consider inappropriate, but this is merely the unintended consequence of the strong intellectual property regime that exists and that they must find a different way to deal with this. I do not see any courts compelling the music marketing corporations or the BNP to stop trading in that music provided they observe the existing laws and contractual terms.

Their legal options are probably many and these do not have to involve litigation. Instead, they could in turn produce other songs that support political parties or organizations committed to equality and tolerance. Perhaps the most potent one in my view would be to take the royalties emanating from the sales by the BNP and donate that to other groups whose philosophies and ideologies would counter those espoused by BNP. To my mind, that would turn the tables on BNP by encouraging it to work, albeit indirectly, for the other side.