Many musicians have copyright gripes with Trump, but only some can win in the courts

[Thiệu Ngô]

Celine Dion and Isaac Hayes' estate are the latest to try to stop Trump's use of their songs at rallies.
Over the years, dozens of artists, from Rihanna to Elton John, have made similar complaints.
A copyright expert said artists could sue and likely win if Trump lacked the proper music licenses.

By Natalie Musumeci and Laura Italiano


The list of musical artists angry about former President Donald Trump playing their songs at campaign events keeps growing.

This week, representatives for the music icon Celine Dion slammed Trump's campaign for using her smash-hit "Titanic" ballad, "My Heart Will Go On," at a recent rally in Montana, saying it was unauthorized.

"In no way is this use authorized, and Celine Dion does not endorse this or any similar use," a statement posted to Dion's social-media accounts Sunday said. "…And really, THAT song?"

Also this week, the family of the late R&B singer-songwriter Isaac Hayes threatened to sue Trump over copyright-infringement claims for the Republican presidential nominee's use of the musician's song "Hold On, I'm Coming" at campaign rallies over the past two years.

"We demand the cessation of use, removal of all related videos, a public disclaimer, and payment of $3 million in licensing fees by August 16, 2024. Failure to comply will result in further legal action," the family said in a statement posted on the Instagram account of Hayes' son Isaac Hayes III.

An attorney for the family sent a cease-and-desist letter to Trump's campaign on Sunday, saying that the campaign had not gotten "a license or other authorization" to use the song, according to the family's post, which included a copy of the letter.

If Trump's campaign did not get a proper license, artists could sue and likely win

Songwriters and copyright owners angry that Trump is using copyrighted music at his rallies would most definitely win a lawsuit against the former president if he or his campaign did not obtain the necessary license to play the tunes, an expert in copyright law told Business Insider.

Under the law, any public performance of copyrighted music — which includes the playing of a song at a campaign rally — requires a license, the expert, Jessica Litman, a professor of law at the University of Michigan, said.

Litman said that, typically, those licenses are obtained either by the venue or by the event from one of the performing-rights organizations, which represent the songwriters and their music publishers.

"Each songwriter belongs to a single PRO, so the Trump campaign would have needed to secure a license from the appropriate PRO," Litman said.

The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers and Broadcast Music Inc. are among the major performing-rights organizations in the US.

In recent years, performing-rights organizations have typically required political campaigns to obtain a special license to use music at campaign events. At both ASCAP and BMI, members can request to withdraw their music from political-campaign licenses.

"How it works is that the blanket license gives the campaign authorization to play any one of BMI's 22.4 million musical works wherever campaign events/functions occur, but there is a provision built into this license so that if we receive an objection from a songwriter or music publisher about a particular song(s) being used in a campaign, we will remove that song(s) from the license," Jodie Thomas, a spokesperson for BMI, said in an email.

"We will then notify the campaign that the song has been removed from their license and that they are no longer authorized by BMI to perform that song at any campaign events or functions moving forward," Thomas said.

According to Litman, ASCAP and BMI operate under antitrust consent decrees. Legal experts, she said, disagree about whether the consent decrees permit the organizations to selectively withdraw music from the licenses they offer.

BMI says removing a work from a campaign license when it receives an objection from a songwriter or music publisher is compliant with its consent decree.

ASCAP did not immediately respond to a request for comment about this.

According to BMI, Trump's campaign has taken out a "political entities license" from BMI for his 2016, 2020, and 2024 campaigns.

ASCAP did not immediately provide details about whether Trump's campaign had obtained a license from the organization. Trump's campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Throngs of artists, from Rihanna to Elton John, have objected to Trump's use of their music

Over the years, dozens of artists and bands, including Rihanna, Queen, the Rolling Stones, Neil Young, Elton John, and Pharrell Williams, have spoken out against Trump using their music at his events. Some have even formally sent cease-and-desist notices and threatened legal action.

"If no license was obtained, the copyright owners in the songs can sue Trump, and they would win," Litman said.

Litman added that things could get complicated if the campaign did secure a license from one of the performing-rights organizations but it wasn't a license for political campaigns, or the artist had sought to exclude their works from the license but the campaign used the song anyway.

"That question has not yet been litigated," Litman said.

The singer Eddy Grant sued Trump, claiming copyright infringement, in 2020 after his 1982 hit "Electric Avenue" was used in a Trump-campaign tweet without the reggae-disco star's permission.

"Sound-recording copyrights are usually owned by record labels, and one usually needs to negotiate directly with the relevant label to include a sound recording in any video, broadcast, or online post," Litman said, adding: "If the case goes to trial, I would expect Grant to win."

Isaac Hayes' family wants Trump to pay up

James Walker Jr., an attorney for the estate of Hayes, the R&B legend, told BI Hayes' music was licensed through BMI and that the Hayes estate had told BMI that the Hayes catalog was not to be used for political events.

Trump's campaign has used Hayes' music at the former president's rallies more than 100 times and as recently as Saturday, Walker said.

Thomas, the spokesperson for BMI, confirmed to BI that the organization was "executing on the estate's withdrawal request."

The Hayes estate complained publicly and to the Trump campaign in 2022 when "Hold On, I'm Coming" was used during Trump's appearance at a National Rifle Association convention a week after the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting. Since then, the 1966 track has been used many more times at events, Walker said.

Walker, a 30-year entertainment-copyright lawyer, said the Hayes family hired him "after getting no response" from the Trump campaign for two years.

In addition to getting Trump's campaign to stop using "Hold On, I'm Coming" at rallies, the Hayes estate is seeking the removal of all Trump-event videos featuring the song, plus $3 million, an amount Walker said was "peanuts compared to what they should be paying."

"We don't want this to be seen as a money grab, but we've had to get research teams involved in tracking down all the uses," the attorney said. "That's a lot of manpower."

Trump's campaign did not respond to a request for comment about the use of Hayes' music or about its practices when it comes to obtaining licenses for the copyrighted music it plays at events and rallies.