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Bad ‘Religion’: R.E.M. Slap Fox News With a Cease and Desist

R.E.M. / Photo by Getty Images

Legal snafus over song copyrights are as plentiful during election season as NSFW Flaming Lips videos, and today via Slicing Up Eyeballs we learned R.E.M. was displeased with Fox News using “Losing My Religion” during their coverage of the Democratic National Convention last night.

In a no-nonsense statement on the band’s website, Michael Stipe made as much clear as day, assuming you have a strong knowledge of serpentine taxonomy: “We have little or no respect for their puff adder brand of reportage. Our music does not belong there.” The puff adder is a snake that puffs itself up to look extra scary. It is also venomous.

The band post also included some legal nuts and bolts: “R.E.M.’s ‘Losing My Religion’ was used in the Fox News coverage of the Democratic National Convention last night. R.E.M. today, through its music publisher, Warner-Tamerlane Music, demanded that Fox News cease and desist from continuing its unlicensed and unauthorized use of the song.”