MGMT Compensated By French President Nicolas Sarkozy

MGMT are to be compensated by French President Nicolas Sarkozy's UMP party, who used one of the band’s songs without permission.

The American group threatened to sue Sarkozy's UMP party after they admitted using 'Kids' at national congress and twice in online campaign videos.

The party offered to pay MGMT one euro compensation – a gesture described as “insulting” and “disrespectful of the rights of artists and authors” by the band's French lawyer.

The band are believed to have agreed a settlement of around 30,000 euros, according to Reuters.

Their lawyer Isabelle Wekstein described the figure as “satisfactory”.

Writing on their website, MGMT said: “We did not want to be 'typical Americans' and sue, despite the amazing monetary benefit and chinchilla coats and Navigators it would bring, instead we are using the settlement fee the UMP presented and donating it to artists' rights organizations.”

It is understood that the UMP paid the standard 53 euro fee to the French music licensing body in order to use the track.

But the band argued the sum was not enough to cover the song's appearance in the online campaign videos.

The settlement comes a day before the French government votes on new anti-piracy laws.

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