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John McCain may have lost the presidential election to Barack Obama, but his campaign seems absolutely determined not to lose to Jackson Browne.

The singer/songwriter sued McCain in August after the Republican candidate used his song, “Running on Empty,” in a campaign commercial that targeted Obama’s energy plan. At the time, many didn’t take the legal threat very seriously, but based on two motions filed this week in U.S. District Court in California, the McCain campaign sure does.

Represented by attorney Lincoln Bandlow at Spillane Shaeffer, McCain has filed two 20-page motions.

The first is a standard motion to dismiss, claiming that McCain’s use of the song was fair use. The campaign’s fair use reading is based on the application of the standard four-factor test that includes the purpose and character of the use of the song (McCain argues it was non-commercial and transformative); the nature of the work (McCain derides the song as old, old, old, with a title that’s an acknowledged cliche); the amount and substantiality of the use of the song (McCain only used the title phrase, and cites a recent judgment against Yoko Ono, who had sought to prevent the unauthorized use of John Lennon’s “Imagine” in a film); and the effect of the use of the song (McCain says that rather than damage the song’s commercial potential, his use “will likely increase the popularity of this thirty year-old song”).

McCain also says that Browne’s assertion that the Lanham Act’s prohibition on the implication of a “false association or endorsement” fails because it only applies to “commercial speech,” not “political speech.”

The second filing is maybe even more interesting. It’s an anti-SLAPP motion, which is typically used by defendants as a way to seek monetary damages after a plaintiff has subjected a defendant to a lawsuit meant to chill free speech. So far, McCain is only looking for attorney’s fees and costs, but claiming an artist has interfered with free speech is quite the poke of an eye in show business.

Browne’s camp has yet to comment on the filings.

Guns N’ Roses is streaming its long-awaited Black Frog/Geffen album “Chinese Democracy” on MySpace ahead of its Sunday (Nov. 23) release exclusively via Best Buy.

The album, which was debuted for fans at New York and Los Angeles listening parties earlier this week, has already leaked online. An avalanche of “Democracy” reviews have gone to print, including a nearly 2,000-word treatise from Chuck Klosterman in the Onion. (For Billboard’s review, click here)

The album’s title track debuts this week at No. 34 on the Billboard Hot 100, the band’s first appearance on the chart since “Sympathy for the Devil” in 1995.

MySpace users can also listen to “Electric Arguments” (ATO/Red), the new album by Paul McCartney’s side-project group The Fireman, which is released Nov. 25.

Michael Jackson plans to testify next week in a British court in a lawsuit brought against him by a Bahrain prince, Jackson’s lawyer said.

The singer is being sued by Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad al-Khalifa, the second son of the king of Bahrain, who says Jackson reneged on a contract to record a new album and write an autobiography.

He also says Jackson owes him $7 million after the prince paid for his legal costs, travel and other expenses.

Jackson spent time in Bahrain as a guest of the royal family following a 2005 trial at the end of which he was acquitted of child molestation charges.

“Mr Jackson is intending to travel to this country…and will be available to give evidence to your lordship,” Jackson’s lawyer Robert Englehart told the British High Court in London today (Nov. 20).

The singer is expected to take the witness stand on Monday.

Englehart had initially argued that Jackson was unwell and should not travel, handing the judge a report earlier this week on the singer’s medical condition.

Bankim Thanki, representing al-Khalifa, said the medical evidence produced was “pretty unsubstantial” and that Jackson had a habit of producing a “sick note” when he did not want to turn up in court. He had wanted Jackson to appear in person.

Jackson contests that there was no valid agreement with al-Khalifa and that the sheikh’s case is based on “mistake, misrepresentation and undue influence.”

In his pleaded defense, Jackson said the payments he received were “gifts” and that no project was ever finalized.

It’s a very sad day for us “Dancing with the Stars” fans.

While on Ryan Seacrest’s morning radio show (KIIS FM’s “On Air with Ryan Seacrest”) professional dancer Julianne Hough said that she will not be returning in the spring to compete for her third Mirror Ball Trophy. “I’m not going to be back next season,” Julianne announced. “That’s final.”

Emmy-nominated Julianne Hough (view photos) became an instant fan favorite on the show, taking the grand prize with Olympic gold medalist Apolo Anton Ohno her first time out (Season 4), then snatching the prize again with Helio Castroneves during her second go (Season 5).

She’s beautiful, goofy, good-hearted and enormously talented. You can’t help but love her. Even cynical radio personality Adam Carolla fell in love with Julianne after he was paired with her in Season 6. When the two were eliminated during Week 4, Carolla seemed genuinely disappointed and told the crowd, “I had the time of my life. I lost 20 pounds of fat and gained 105 pounds of angel. I love this girl.” Last Tuesday night, Julianne and her partner Cody Linely were eliminated during the semi-finals of Season 7.

Julianne and her brother Derek Hough, also a professional on “Dancing with the Stars” (and a likely candidate to take the Trophy this season), come from a family of dancers and began competing at a very early age. Both Houghs have music aspirations, which is the reason Julianne has decided to leave the show. This morning she told Ryan, “It’s because I really, really want to focus on the music and… be taken seriously a little bit, and I think it’s hard to be on ‘Dancing with the Stars’ and be singing and kind of get that confusion, and so I’m really going to focus on the music.”

Julianne’s self-titled album debuted at #1 on the Top Country Albums chart, and I’m sure she’s going to give fellow reality star Carrie Underwood a run for her money.

Although she’s definitely out this spring (Season 8 begins March 2009), there is still a chance that she might return next fall. “I won’t be on ‘Dancing’ this spring season,” she wrote on her Fancast blog last night. “I don’t know about the fall. Maybe, maybe not. We’ll see.”

The show will go on. But it won’t be the same without her.

Germany’s highest civil court has dealt Kraftwerk a blow in ruling that sampling music does not in principle violate copyright.

Today’s (Nov. 20) decision overturns a Hamburg state court ruling in Kraftwerk’s favor that said reusing even the shortest bit of a song infringed on copyright. The Hamburg court will now have to take up the case again.

The civil court ruling, however, forbids sampling of a song melody and insists that the sample must be part of a completely new musical work bearing no resemblance to the original.

Kraftwerk had sued German rap producer Moses Pelham for using a two-second sample from their 1977 track “Metal on Metal” in the rhythm sequence in the song “Nur Mir” by Sabrina Setlur that appeared in 1997.

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Mudvayne - The New Game

“On this eclectic 11-song set, Mudvayne stretches into a variety of previously unexplored musical settings to accompany Chad Gray’s unapologetically angsty lyrics. “Fish Out of Water” opens things with a staccato gallop before careening through a series of prog-rock-styled dynamic shifts. A ringing mixture of acoustic and electric guitars bring fresh textures to “Do What You Do,” the album’s first single; “Scarlet Letters”; and “Never Enough,” while the politically toned “Have It Your Way” is a forthright and furious modern rock jam tailored for the Vans Warped tour. Some of the fierce headbanging that is Mudvayne’s stock in trade can still be found in “The Hate in Me,” “We the People” and “Dull Boy,” but the bulk of the record finds the group playing its “New Game” with hard-hitting exuberance. —Gary Graff”

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Blake Shelton - Startin Fires

“Blake Shelton announces that “I’m a lucky man” near the start of his fifth album, which is exactly how someone dating fellow country singer Miranda Lambert should probably feel. That relationship gives “Startin’ Fires” its verve and spirit, a love-struck recovery from the heartbroken pall that hung over 2007’s “Pure BS.” There’s some self-recrimination in “She Wouldn’t Be Gone” and a neat twist in the plot of “I Don’t Care,” but mostly Shelton is in L-O-V-E and overjoyed to sing about it. “Country Strong” offers an anthemic salute to boot-wearin’ men and women, “Home Sweet Home” pays tribute to just that, and “This Is Gonna Take All Night” is a pronouncement of sexual intent so direct it would make the late Barry White smile. The “Fires,” it seems, have more than merely started. —Gary Graff”

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Ricardo Arjona Richard Arjona - Quinto

“This Guatemalan singer/ songwriter has an uncanny knack for marrying sophisticated lyrics with catchy hooks and mass-appeal messages. On his debut for Warner after a lifetime with Sony, Ricardo Arjona also gives his timeless songs a sense of place. The album tells stories of urban life as seen from a fifth-floor studio, from the unabashed romanticism of first single “Cómo Duele” to the incisiveness of “Que Nadie Vea,” which chronicles a gay man’s life in the closet. The set traverses a sea of settings and emotions with elegance and an immediate sense of connection. Arjona is thoughtful in his arrangements, using a classical string quartet for “Bailarina Vecina,” big strings for “Cómo Duele” and a more acoustic rock vibe for “La Vida Está de Luto.” There’s also a duet with ranchera queen Paqita La Del Barrio, which underscores how universal Arjona’s songs and themes are, even in the most regional arrangements. —Leila Cobo”

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Il Divo - The Promise

“Opera and ABBA: two great tastes that taste great together? In Il Divo’s hands, definitely. Unlike some in the wildly lucrative pop-classical scene, the four hunks in this baritone-beefcake boy band (originally created by “American Idol” judge Simon Cowell) couldn’t care less about converting serious-music snobs. They’re happy to pull every heartstring known to man—or at least middle-aged woman—which gives their crescendo-crammed records a kind of refreshing honesty. The quartet’s fifth full-length (including an easy-money 2005 Christmas set) is Il Divo’s most shameless—and therefore its most enjoyable—yet. Highlights include covers of Charles Aznavour’s “She” and Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” (the latter in a surprisingly stripped-down arrangement), as well as an over-the-top reading of “The Winner Takes It All” that to post-”Mamma Mia!” ears sounds quite a lot like cha-ching.—Mikael Wood”

It took a few listens for me to really dig this song, but afterwards I’m really diggin this track. 8/10

Click below to listen (not the original video)

This track should do really well on rock radio stations. Lovin it! 9/10

Click below to listen (not the original video)

Although there are parts of the track I really don’t like, the hook is awesome and overall the track is pretty decent. Grab this one. 7/10

Click below to listen (not the original video)

After a questionable release with “Turnin Heads”, these Atlanta boys are back with another bangin single. Great Beat (Mannie Fresh), and although there are a few questionable parts, the song overall is great. 8/10

Click below to listen (not the original video)

Although there is very little from Justin Timberlake on this track, he is still alright on it. The real star of the track is a young unknown named Esmee Denters, who has a combination of Beyonce and Rihanna sound. She has been working with Mr. Timberlake for a while, and hopefully drops a single of her own sometime soon. While it’s a wonderful concept to drop this song for charity, I have a hard time seeing a Live track being released to mainstream radio. Still a good track though. 7/10

Click below to listen (not the original video)

Want to download a new Justin Timberlake song and help sick children at the same time? All you have to do is “Follow My Lead.”

Timberlake’s new tune, “Follow My Lead,” is available on his MySpace Music page beginning today. All proceeds from download sales will help fund the Shriners Hospitals for Children, which provide free care to children with orthopedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries and cleft lip and palate.

“Follow My Lead,” featuring Esmée Denters, was recorded live at Timberlake’s recent Justin Timberlake and Friends Shriners benefit concert, which brought together 50 Cent, Adam Levine of Maroon 5, Boyz II Men, Leona Lewis, Lionel Richie, Rihanna, The Jonas Brothers and Will.i.am. Footage from that show is also available for viewing on Timberlake’s MySpace page.

The song will be available to purchase on MySpace exclusively for the next three months.

http://www.myspace.com/justintimberlake