He seems to think so.  A Pierre Lapointe song was played at the Liberal convention last weekend, not as intro music before a speech, not as a theme for the convention but one of many songs being played during a break in the action to entertain the crowd. 

He was so offended he wrote an open letter to La Presse saying, "Since my debut in the world of popular music, I have always been clear: to be publicly associated with a political party does not interest me.  Whatever the party!"  He also wrote "Now, to see that you appropriated one of my songs without even the coherence of mind to remember that you used my name to tarnish the image of all the artists who wore the red square, disgusts me."

The Verdun Auditorium is licensed by SOCAN which means legally it was OK to play the song and through that agreement artists receive compensation.  Pierre Lapointe challenged this right and refers to the moral right, he wanted to be consulted for ethical reasons because of the partisan nature of the event.

The head of the Quebec Liberal Party believes that political parties should be able to use any songs in Quebec events.

When it comes to music at events, political or otherwise legally licensed I don't need Pierre Lapointe's consent to play his music or anyone else for that matter.  What do you think? 

Photo: La Presse