Many artists and songwriters have objected to the use of their songs as part of Donald Trump‘s presidential campaigning, but actual legal judgments have been harder to come by. One such edict came down Tuesday when a federal court judge in Georgia issued a temporary injunction ordering the Trump campaign to stop using the Sam & Dave 1960s soul classic “Hold On, I’m Comin’” in rallies.
Trump reps told reporters they would comply and the song had already been pulled out of use on the campaign trail.
It had been used as the former president’s exit music at many rallies, and was even played following his speech at the Republican National Convention in July, although that version was performed live by a covers band — like much of the RNC music — instead of the original recording heard out on the trail.
The judgment came in response to a lawsuit filed by the estate of Isaac Hayes, who co-wrote the 1966 smash with David Porter.
“Today our family was granted an injunction against @realdonaldtrump from playing @IsaacHayes3 music ever again,” tweeted Isaac Hayes III. “We are pleased with the decision by the court and move to the next phase of this lawsuit.” He called it just “the first step in our copyright infringement case against Donald Trump and Donald Trump for President.”
The judge did give the campaign an allowance, though, in declining to order it to remove any videos that might exist that already included “Hold On, I’m Comin’.”
“The campaign had already agreed to cease further use,” said Ronald Coleman, a Trump attorney. “We’re very gratified that the court recognized the First Amendment issues at stake and didn’t order a takedown of existing videos. … 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.”
“We are very pleased with the court’s decision,” said James L. Walker Jr., who represents the Hayes estate in the case. “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.”
The judge’s preliminary injunction said the Trump campaign could not continue to use the song without a proper license. In the case of publishing rights, like Hayes’, that license would come from performing rights organizations that oversee songwriting usage like BMI or ASCAP, which have a political usage license that is separate from the venue license that typically covers of music being played in public auditoriums. Songwriters can opt out of having their music permitted for such purposes.
Though the Trump campaign insisted it didn’t want to “annoy” anyone with the use of the Sam & Dave song, it has not always showed as much sensitivity to other writers and performers whose music has been appropriated for political purposes, often continuing to roll out the songs in question long after objections had been publicly raised and cease-and-desist orders threatened.
Celine Dion, Foo Fighters, Jack White and the Smiths’ Johnny Marr are among the most recent artists to object to hearing their songs pulled out by Trump’s camp on the campaign trail or in videos, following in the footsteps of Neil Young, John Fogerty, R.E.M., Guns N’ Roses and countless others who have made their feelings strongly known this year or in the previous two election cycles.
Ironically, Sam Moore, the surviving member of the Sam & Dave duo, has been known as a Republican and sent a letter to the Barack Obama campaign asking them to stop using “Hold On, I’m Comin’” back in 2008. “No one called me, no one sent a telegraph, no one did anything. They just did it, and I think that’s rather rude,” Moore told an AP reporter at the time. The Obama campaign agreed to stop using the track after hearing from Moore.
