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Mike Huckabee pays $25K for 'Eye of the Tiger' copyright infringement

By Eric DuVall
Former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee gestures as he answers a question during the undercard of a GOP debate hosted by Fox News in January. Huckabee was forced to pay $25,000 to the band Survivor after using its song "Eye of the Tiger" at a campaign event last year, federal elections filings show. File photo by Mike Theiler/UPI
Former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee gestures as he answers a question during the undercard of a GOP debate hosted by Fox News in January. Huckabee was forced to pay $25,000 to the band Survivor after using its song "Eye of the Tiger" at a campaign event last year, federal elections filings show. File photo by Mike Theiler/UPI | License Photo

WASHINGTON, June 28 (UPI) -- Former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has paid the band Survivor $25,000 for copyright infringement after using their song "Eye of the Tiger" during a campaign rally with Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk who became a national figure for refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses.

Huckabee traveled to Davis' hometown last year to hold a celebratory rally after she was released following a brief stint in jail for refusing to abide by a judge's order to issue the licenses in the wake of the Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage.

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The band sued Huckabee for copyright infringement, saying they had not given permission for the song to be used and had not been paid any royalties for its use, CNN reported.

Huckabee's lawyers argued in court the event was a religious celebration, not a political event, and thus Huckabee was free to use the song under the Supreme Court's "fair use" statute.

A judge disagreed after Survivor's lawyers pointed out Huckabee's campaign paid for the event.

The two sides reached an out-of-court settlement, the terms of which were not publicly disclosed until recent financial filings with the Federal Elections Commission revealed the payment, made to Rude Music, the company owned by Survivor guitarist Frankie Sullivan.

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The document shows the $25,000 payment, listed under the description "Legal Settlement re: Copyright Infringement."

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