Black Keys sue Pizza Hut, Home Depot over song use

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Black Keys are not shilling power tools or pizza, the band said in copyright infringement lawsuits against The Home Depot and Pizza Hut.

The "Lonely Boy" band filed the federal lawsuits Thursday, claiming Home Depot did not have permission to use elements of the hit song in an ad promoting power tools and that Pizza Hut misused "Gold on the Ceiling" in a recent ad.

Both songs appeared on the rock group's seventh album, "El Camino," which was released last year and has sold nearly 840,000 copies. The Black Keys are comprised of Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney. Musician-producer Brian Burton, who is known as Danger Mouse, is also suing the companies.

"The experts confirmed that this was copyright infringement," band spokeswoman Mary Moyer said in a statement.

The cases seek unspecified damages of more than $75,000 apiece and an order preventing the continued use of the songs in the commercials.

"We haven't seen the complaint yet, but respect for intellectual property rights is a matter we take very seriously," said Home Depot spokesman Stephen Holmes.

Pizza Hut spokesman Christopher Fuller said the company also hasn't seen the case, but fully respects artists' rights. He directed inquiries to the ad's creators, The Martin Agency and The Interpublic Group of Companies.

A Martin Agency spokesman said the company doesn't respond to pending lawsuits, and a spokesman for the Interpublic Group of Companies was not immediately available.

The suits claim both companies were given written notices that the ads misused The Black Keys' music. The Home Depot ad touts Ryobi power tools, while the Pizza Hut ad touts its new "Cheesy Bites Pizza."

Neither company received permission to use musical elements from the songs. The ads do not include any vocals.

"Lonely Boy" and "Gold on the Ceiling" both topped the Billboard alternative music chart after their release.

The Black Keys won two Grammy Awards in 2010 for music from their album "Brothers," which won the Best Alternative Music Album award that year.

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Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP

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Associated Press writer Mesfin Fekadu contributed to this report.

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Some black voters 'agree to disagree' with Obama on gays - Chicago Sun-Times

By Errin Haines  and Jesse Washington May 13, 2012 11:24PM

Dorsey Jackson cuts Be-Emnet Zegeye's hair at his establishment Jackson's Barbershop, Friday, May 11, 2012, in Ardmore, Pa. Like many black Americans, Dorsey Jackson does not believe in gay marriage, but he wasn't disillusioned when Barack Obama became the first president to support it. The windows of his suburban Philadelphia barbershop still display an "Obama 2012? placard and another that reads "We've Got His Back." (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

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Updated: May 13, 2012 11:24PM

ARDMORE, Pa. — Like many black Americans, Dorsey Jackson does not believe in gay marriage, but he wasn’t disillusioned when Barack Obama became the first president to support it. The windows of his suburban Philadelphia barbershop still display an “Obama 2012” placard and another that reads “We’ve Got His Back.”

If Obama needs to endorse same-sex marriage to be re-elected, said Jackson, so be it: “Look, man — by any means necessary.”

With that phrase popularized by the black radical Malcolm X, Jackson rebutted those who say Obama’s new stand will weaken the massive black support he needs to win re-election in November. Black voters and especially black churches have long opposed gay marriage. But the 40-year-old barber and other African Americans interviewed in politically key states say their support for Obama remains unshaken.

Some questioned whether he really believes what he says about gay marriage or merely took that stand to help defeat Republican Mitt Romney — suggesting African Americans view the first black president less as an icon than as a straight-up politician who still feels like family.

“Obama is human,” said Leon Givens of Charlotte, N.C. “I don’t have him on a pedestal.”

On Tuesday, Givens voted in favor of banning gay marriage in North Carolina. Many black precincts voted 2-1 for the ballot measure, which passed easily.

The next day, Givens heard Obama tell the nation in a TV interview: “I think same-sex couples should be able to get married.”

But this fall, Givens plans to register Obama voters and drive senior citizens to the polls. A retired human resources manager, he suspects the president’s pronouncement was “more a political thing than his true feelings.” But he’s not dwelling on it.

“We can agree to disagree on gay marriage,” Givens said, “and then I leave him alone.”

Obama won North Carolina in 2008 by a mere 14,000 votes, thanks largely to a huge black turnout. Nationally, 95 percent of black voters chose Obama, and 2 million more black people voted than in 2004. No one doubts Obama will carry the black vote this year, but whether he can again turn out such large numbers could prove crucial to his chances.

African Americans have historically been more hostile to gays and lesbians than other racial and ethnic groups.

Only 39 percent of African-Americans favor gay marriage, compared with 47 percent of white Americans, according to a Pew poll conducted this April. Forty-nine percent of blacks and 43 percent of whites are opposed.

But blacks — like other Americans — have become more supportive of same-sex marriage in recent years. Black support has risen dramatically since 2008, when only 26 percent of black people favored gay marriage and 63 percent were opposed, according to Pew.

Does Obama’s announcement change Brown’s support for the president? “Absolutely not. Because Scripture says we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”

Black voters, led by black churches, have played key roles in blocking same-sex marriage in states like California, where 2008 exit polls indicated about 70 percent black opposition, and Maryland, where black Democrats were part of a statehouse coalition that stalled a gay marriage bill in 2011. (It passed this year but may face a referendum in November.)

AP

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