IF IT WASN’T enough of a blow that US presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is trailing Mitt Romney in the polls as Florida holds its primary today, the former House Speaker is being sued for his musical tastes.

The Gingrich campaign’s use of the hit song Eye of the Tiger during rallies has drawn the ire of a member of the band who wrote and performed the movie classic.

Rude Music Inc. has filed a law suit in a Chicago court on behalf of one of Survivor’s founding members, Frank M. Sullivan III who co-wrote the song that is synonymous with the movie Rocky III:

YouTube: drako2012

Documents filed to the Chicago court say that Gingrich, who recently won the South Carolina primary, has used the song as far back as 2009 at least. CBS News reports that he has used it at campaign events in recent months as he bids for the Republican nomination.

Here is the song being used at an appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in 2011:

YouTube: ACUConservativeUSA

The legal papers also note that Gingrich is the author or co-author of more than 40 copyrighted works and adds that he ”is sophisticated and knowledgeable concerning the copyright laws”.

The Guardian notes that it is not the first time a US presidential hopeful has fallen foul of legal threats over breach of copyright with their choice of songs but such threats appear to be drawn along partisan lines on occasion.

American singer-songwriter Tom Petty told former Republican hopeful Michele Bachmann to stop using his song American Girl at her rallies but did not do similar when the same song was used by Hillary Clinton during her campaign for the Democratic nomination in 2008.

While a little closer to home, Angela Merkel drew the ire of the Rolling Stones in 2005 when she was running for election as Germany’s first female chancellor in 2005 for her use of the song Angie.

Romney holds advantage over Gingrich as Florida votes in Republican primary