It turns out that Heart, the most recent group to ask the pro-life, pro-war McCain campaign to stop playing its music during events, actually has no say in the usage matter whatsoever. As far as legality, as long as the GOP submits the appropriate paperwork, the song's theirs to blast whenever pit-bull-hockey-violence-fish Sarah Palin is demeaning the social service of others.

Like thousands of other songs, "Barracuda" is distributed by the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers, meaning that any entity that is licensed with ASCAP can play a song without getting the artist's explicit permission. … A spokesperson for the Republican Convention said the event did have an ASCAP license…

Law aside, if the McCain folks continue to use "Barracuda," it'll be like they're attending a birthday party for someone who hates them. We recommend they just stick to Toby Keith.

For the third time this election season, a band has asked the Republican party to not use one of its songs to introduce the party's presidential and vice-presidential nominees, John McCain and Sarah Palin. Much like Bruce Springsteen, who in 1984 asked Ronald Reagan to stop using "Born in the USA" on his reelection campaign trail, the artists say their politics don't jibe with those of the GOP candidates.

After the jump, the artists and the songs over which they've asserted control.

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