Mike Huckabee’s presidential campaign, responding to a lawsuit filed against them this week for playing the song “Eye of the Tiger” during a September political rally, is vowing not “to be bullied.”
Frankie Sullivan, a member of the band Survivor who co-wrote “Eye of the Tiger,” filed suit against the Republican’s presidential campaign in federal court Wednesday, accusing them of copyright infringement.
The song was played during a public rally Huckabee held with Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, who was famously jailed this summer for refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.
In a statement provided to The Daily Caller, Huckabee’s campaign suggested they will fight the lawsuit.
“Mr. Sullivan is demanding an amount of money that exceeds the average yearly salary of a hard-working American simply because a snippet of his song was played briefly at a rally,” Huckabee spokeswoman Alice Stewart told TheDC. “The campaign offered Mr. Sullivan fair compensation, but that offer was rejected. We refuse to be bullied.”
This isn’t Sullivan’s first time to sue a Republican presidential candidate: during the 2012 race, the guitarist took action against former House Speaker Newt Gingrich for playing the same song at campaign events.
Listen to “Eye of the Tiger”: