London, Feb 27 : American musical group MGMT are suing French President Nicolas Sarkozy for using one of their hit songs without permission as a campaign soundtrack.

MGMT, formerly known as The Management, claim that Sarkozy''s UMP party used the track `Kids' at its national congress and in two online videos.

The political party admitted to using it by saying that it was a mistake, and they tried to rectify the matter by offering a symbolic gesture of one euro.

But the offering has been seen as an insult, and MGMT''s French lawyer Isabelle Wekstein has rejected it.

"This offer is disrespectful of the rights of artists and authors. It is insulting," the BBC quoted her as saying.

"We are dealing with acts of counterfeiting, an infringement of intellectual property," she said.

Wekstein said that the party paid a standard 53-euro fee to the French music licensing body, and claimed that the amount was not enough to cover subsequent uses of the rock track, particularly on the web.

The row comes a week before the French parliament starts examining a new law championed by Sarkozy''s party, pushing for tougher penalties for online piracy and file-sharing on the internet. (ANI)