Former President Donald Trump has been ordered to stop using a popular song at campaign rallies.
On Tuesday, a judge in Atlanta ruled that Trump will no longer be allowed to use the song “Hold On, I’m Coming” at campaign rallies after the family of one of the song’s co-writers filed a lawsuit against the former president.
Last month, the estate of Isaac Hayes Jr. filed a lawsuit accusing Trump, his campaign and several of his allies of copyright infringement. Following a hearing on the estate’s request for an emergency preliminary injunction, U.S. District Judge Thomas Thrash ruled that Trump must cease using the song but denied a request to compel the campaign to remove existing videos featuring it.
Hayes died in 2006 at the age of 65. He wrote the song “Hold On, I’m Coming” with songwriter David Porter, and it became a hit for the soul duo of Sam & Dave in 1966.
Former president Donald Trump speaks at the 2024 Mom’s for Liberty National Summit in Washington D.C., Friday, August 30, 2024. On September 3, 2024, Trump was ordered to stop playing the popular song “Hold On, I’m Coming” during campaign rallies.
DOMINIC GWINN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images
While speaking to reporters after a hearing this week, Trump attorney Ronald Coleman said: “The campaign has no interest in annoying or hurting anyone, and if the Hayes family feels that it hurts or annoys them, that’s fine, we’re not going to force the issue.”
Coleman also said that the former president stopped playing the song at campaign rallies. The attorney expressed gratitude that the judge recognized it would be an overreach to order the campaign to remove existing videos at this stage of the litigation.
Isaac Hayes III, the son of Hayes, told reporters that he is “very grateful and happy” following the judge’s decision.
“I want this to serve as an opportunity for other artists to come forward that don’t want their music used by Donald Trump or other political entities and continue to fight for music artists’ rights and copyright,” Hayes III said.
A number of artists and their estates have objected to Trump using their songs at his events. After a Trump campaign rally in Bozeman, Montana, last month featured a video of Celine Dion performing “My Heart Will Go On,” her team issued a statement clarifying that Dion did not endorse the use of her song and emphasizing that “in no way is this use authorized.”
Before the 2020 election, several artists, including Bruce Springsteen, Rihanna, Phil Collins, Pharrell, John Fogerty, Neil Young, Eddy Grant, Panic! at the Disco, R.E.M. and Guns N’ Roses, voiced objections to Trump using their music.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.
