Legendary musician Neil Young has filed a $10 million lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s campaign committee, accusing it of copyright infringement. The lawsuit comes after his song “Rockin’ in the Free World” was played without permission shortly before the president took the stage to speak at a rally held on October 12 in Youngstown, Ohio. The “Trump 47” committee has caused the song, without the musician’s approval, “to be played many times at other rallies designed to encourage Republican votes in the upcoming midterm elections,” according to Young’s lawsuit.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Richmond, claims that Trump was “personally aware” that a license would be required to play the song at rallies and that Young “does not have, and would not grant, the required license.” This is not the first time; in 2020, Young sued another corporation formed by Trump, “Donald J. Trump for President Inc.,” in federal court in Manhattan for copyright infringement over “Rockin’ in the Free World” and another song, “Devil’s Sidewalk.” That case was resolved quickly, with a promise that the song would no longer be used without a license and permission from Young.
“Rockin’ in the Free World,” released in 1989, is described in the lawsuit as a “searing anthem” that contrasts the empty promises of American political rhetoric with the harsh realities faced by the poor, the homeless and the forgotten. Its lyrics, which include descriptions of poverty, addiction and “garbage piling up in the shadows of prosperity,” while the chorus repeats with “savage irony,” celebrate a freedom that is clearly not shared by everyone. “In short, the Song is the opposite of everything Donald J. Trump represents,” the lawsuit emphasizes. In addition to the “Trump 47” committee, the lawsuit also lists five other defendants. The October 12 rally was also the scene of an incident in which several attendees attacked a protesting woman, an event that is being investigated by local authorities.
