Despite what many people believe – especially the White House – about playing and paying for music.  It is the law that ANYONE – including pollical parties and rallies – who uses a song that is NOT their own, they must get permission to use the song AND pay royalties.  After all, that song is the musicians JOB and how they earn a living.

But once again, a music artist must resort to legal matters when a song is used at an event without permission.

This time, it’s Canadian rocker Neil Young who is suing the Trump Committee for using his song “Rockin’ in the Free World” without permission.  Young is suing for $10 million after the song was used at an Ohio rally earlier this month.

According to the filing, “Trump was personally aware that a license would be required to play the song at an event” and that Young “has not and would not grant the required license.”

In 2020 a suit was filed and adjudicated in which it was allegedly agreed that the song would never be used again by the current administration without permission.

Neil Young’s lawyers Robert Besser and Scott Simmons stated in the suit, “the lyrics paint vivid street-level portraits of a mother discarding her baby, addicts lost in despair, garbage piling in the shadows of prosperity, while the repeated chorus delivers a savage irony, celebrating freedom that clearly isn’t shared by all.”

They added that the song, “is the opposite of everything that Donald J. Trump stands for.”

Young has been battling with the administration since 2015 when “Rockin’ in the Free World” was first used to announce a run for president; a move Neil Young immediately “condemned”.

A spokesperson for Young noted, “Donald Trump was not authorized to use ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’ in his presidential candidacy announcement. Neil Young, a Canadian citizen, is a supporter of Bernie Sanders for President of the United States of America.”

Again in 2018, the song was used without permission and Young again responded, “I asked him then, in a widely shared, public letter to cease and desist.  However, he chose not to listen to my request, just as he chooses not to listen to the many American voices who ask him to stop his constant lies, to stop his petty, nasty name-calling, and bullying, to stop pushing his dangerous, vilifying and hateful rhetoric.”

Just to be clear, Neil Young’s song “Rockin’ in the Free World” has been used FOUR times without permission and FOUR times Neil Young and his lawyers have condemned the move!

Neil Young is not the only music artist to protest the use of their music at political rallies held by the Republican party…
The White Stripes
Rihanna
Axl Rose
Pharrell Williams
Linkin Park
Tom Petty’s estate
and Sinéad O’Connor’s estate…

Have all demanded a cease and desist of their music.