A federal judge in Georgia ordered former President Donald Trump ’s presidential campaign to cease the use of an Isaac Hayes song at all future campaign rallies.
In response to a lawsuit from the late artist’s estate, Judge Thomas Thrash Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia issued a temporary injunction blocking further use of the song “without proper license.” Trump used Hayes's “Hold On, I’m Comin'” as his exit music at many campaign events this year, including at the Republican National Convention in July and recently at his Aug. 9 rally in Bozeman, Montana.
“We are very pleased with the court’s decision,” said James Walker Jr., a lawyer for the Hayes estate. “Donald Trump has been told he cannot use the music of Isaac Hayes without a license. That was our No. 1 goal. Now we work on the underlying trial and case.”
Thrash, however, did not grant the estate’s request that the Trump campaign take down recordings of past events in which the song was used. Ronald Coleman, a lawyer for the former president, said after the ruling that the campaign “had already agreed to cease further use” of the song and that it was “very gratified that the court recognized the First Amendment issues at stake and didn’t order a takedown of existing videos.”
More than 41 artists, bands, and musicians have requested that Trump cease using their music at his political rallies. Some of their requests, however, will likely go nowhere as blanket licenses that can be purchased by Trump’s campaign allow the use of their songs regardless of whether the artist personally approves of Trump or the song’s use.
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Some bands and artists, such as ABBA and Adele, have requested that their music not be used because Trump did not explicitly ask for permission. Others, such as Sinead O’Connor, have requested their music not be used for political and personal disagreements with Trump.
“It is no exaggeration to say that Sinéad would have been disgusted, hurt, and insulted to have her work misrepresented in this way by someone who she herself referred to as a ‘biblical devil,’” O’Connor’s estate said when it requested that Trump stop playing her music.
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