The French government has a reputation for their strong anti-piracy stance in regards to illegal downloading of music and movies via the internet, but it looks like the government has gotten itself into a small mess of hypocritical trouble for using MGMT’s song, “Kids” without permission.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is guilty of using “Kids” at two meetings and on the internet without the permission of the American band. As the The Daily Swarm pointed out, this kind of thing seems to be happening a lot with politicians lately, but unlike most, Sarkozy and pals are remorseful for their actions, and want to pay up for their mistakes. MGMT, on the other hand, doesn’t want to budge.

According to You Aint No Picasso, the group has sued the UMP because of their differing principles, and does not want to accept the compensation offered to them for their illegal use of their material.

We’re not sure if MGMT is being too harsh on the guilty party or not, but a statement released by the UMP read, “UMP is very attached to the respect of the royalties. And the protection of works of the artists is something of paramount. Compensations had to be envisaged. This is completely normal. The music used in the meetings was it within the framework of the SACEM and thus by paying rights to the SACEM. We are looking at so that there is a right compensation for the group. We respect the right of the authors above all, for this reason we wish to manage an agreement.”

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