September 11, 2006
Composer sued for evoking 9/11 memory and failing to get Republican permission
by Paula Berrer
Composer Louis Sturgeon of the Great London Orchestra in Leeds is encountering resistance from US courts for his attempt to evoke the memory of the September 11 World Trade Center attacks in his latest symphony, without first clearing his work through the Republican National Committee. The symphony is called “Herr Strassa,” and deals with the burning World Trade Center towers in one extended a capella segment. The US Republican Party owns the trademark.
“It is a licensing and copyright issue, certainly,” said Republican National Committee chairman Ken Mehlman, “but it’s also an issue of being sure he’s not using the memory to get out some communist or liberal left-wing propaganda in there either. That’s not what 9/11 is there for.
“If you’re going to score some cheap political points off this memory, it better not be something we haven’t seen or approved of. Otherwise, use some other tragic metaphor, and there are many you can choose from that are right out there in the public domain.”
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