Neil Young is actually suing Donald Trump for playing his songs without permission
Aux Features Music
It’s an election year, which means left-leaning musical acts are mad at Republicans—specifically Donald Trump—for playing their cool songs at dork-ass rallies without permission. It has happened many times in the history of political rallies, going back to Caveman Og playing “Born In The USA” before making a speech about Caveman Blorg’s bad economic policies, so at this point we notice them about as often as we notice… clouds. Slightly annoying clouds that don’t really mean anything.
Now, though, possibly because he has nothing better to do with this pandemic going on, Neil Young has decided to say “fuck it” and actually press the issue. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Young has filed a copyright infringement suit against Trump’s campaign for playing “Rockin’ In The Free World” and “Devil’s Sidewalk” at his recent coronavirus party in Tulsa, saying he specifically objects to his music being used as a “theme song” by a “divisive, un-American campaign of ignorance and hate.” THR says Young considered suing Trump for using his music in 2016, but decided against it because it’s apparently common for campaign venues to preemptively get public performance licenses from ASCAP and BMI—meaning Trump could’ve indirectly had Young’s permission to use his songs at rallies anyway.
Apparently, though, ASCAP and BMI are starting to allow artists to bar their music from being used for political purposes, so there’s a chance that the Trump campaign having a public performance license wouldn’t even hold up in front of a judge. Nobody has really addressed that in court yet, though, because these cases usually get settled quickly (since it’s in nobody’s best interest to drag a suit like this out past campaign season). There are a few possibilities for how this will play out, then: Trump could settle just to shut Neil Young up, Trump could have to go to court against New Young, or Trump could just stall for as long as possible until nobody cares about what happens. That’s usually how he gets out of lawsuits, but most of his legal opponents don’t have the resources or stubborn focus on getting the moral victory that Neil Young has.
Remember how long he fought against Apple to create a better platform for digital music, and when it failed to take off multiple times he just put high-quality versions of his own music on his website? Apple is way more intimidating than Donald Trump (an apple is way more intimidating than Donald Trump), so he should have no reason to be scared here.
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“If Canada’s so great, how come I can take their music? Watch, I’ll do it again…I can be high as a bluebird flies if you’d love me, folks. Many people are saying that a mountain of love and the clear sky above me are all I’d see…”~ President Trump, calling out Anne Murray
“Another toy that helped destroy the failing elder race of man. Sad!” – Father Trump of the Temple of Syrinx
If he calls out Anne Murray, Canada will most certainly declare that we’re sending a STERNLY worded letter saying “Sorry, but we’re going to have to ask you to stop that.”
“Whaddya mean ‘Canada’s not so great’?!”
“Did they ever get their picture on a bubblegum card? How can you say someone’s so great if they don’t get their picture on bubblegum cards?”
Fair play.
If there’s one thing Donald Trump is known for, it’s paying people he owes money to.
Normally I’m not a fan of perpetual copyright, but as long as it’s there you might as well use it against Donald Trump.
I don’t want to get into an argument about “perpetual copyright” but when an actual living artist says don’t use my work without proper permissions I’m OK with that.I’m also OK with using hot pointy sticks to torment my current president.
I don’t disagree with him, but I want my money back for this damn Pono thingie man!
Assuming you’re not joking, what were you thinking buying that Pono thingie, man? Unless your kink involves triangular dildos, then, carry on.
Neil should just tell him that the only two songs he can use are “Southern Man” and “Alabama”.
They are no less inappropriate for a GOP rally than “Rockin’ in the Free World.”I mean, it isn’t hard to Google the lyrics and say “hey, this song hates us!”
I’ll give the benefit of the doubt that wsvon knew exactly what they said.
Didn’t Bush Jr do something similar using “Fortunate Son?”
“A Man Needs A Maid”?
“The Donald and the Damage Done”
“Cinnamon Hair”
“Out of the Blue and Into the Orange”?
Ah Tik Tok you don’t stop…
opps, damn.
“…who won’t out him as hiring an undocumented domestic worker.”
He can use any song he likes, as long as it’s “Arc”.
Or he can just use “Fuckin’ Up”.
This is cool and Trump sucks but Neil Young has no case.
Wrong. Neil Young does have a case.‘This is cool and Trump sucks but Neil Young has no case.’
Point taken
Darn. Should have included a winkin’ icon at tailend of Neil Young vid txt comment to You. Wasn’t meant to appear an ill-tempered response to You ie just sorta humorous & truthful, etc 🙂 Neil Young rocks. DJT doesn’t. Take care & thx for responding.
an intellectual property-based lawsuit seems like the most ineffectual thing someone could possibly do against Trump, because (1) he’s too fucking stupid to display intellect, much less understand intellectual property, and (2) he probably laughs uproariously at any lawsuit against him. But hey Neil, you do you if it’s about principle, just don’t expect a resolution any time in your lifetime.
Neil probably isn’t suing it directly, he’s suing “the trump campaign”. Either way I enjoy any new eff you;s directed at it.
Hopefully the resolution comes sometime between November 2nd and the end of the year.
All true, but I really want Trump to spend the rest of his life in court being sued by Everyone. No golden sunset for him.
But, if certain rumours are true, plenty of golden showers.
“being sued by everyone” implies that he’s not already in jail after having been indicted for obstructing justice, defrauding charities, violating the emoluments clause, etc. The thought of him sitting unhappily and silently in a wheelchair, totally bald, while a litany of charges are read against him makes me smile.
I am as fully confident as someone that doesn’t personally know Neil can be that he gives two fucks about the money or whether he will “win” in Court. He hates Trump and has hated his ilk since forever, and publicly since Buffalo Springfield. He has the money, and is too old to give a fuck. So if it messes with Trump, even if it just serves to embarrass him a little, fine by Neil. And by me.
I cannot like this enough. I have a vague recollection of Young saying that there should be no more protest songs after “Ohio”. Funny how he kept writing them, but that they are now being taken over by the GOP. I really do hope that Young is serious about this and that it really is simply because he’s an old man going after an old man who is fucking it all up and Young is simply tired of rat bastards using his music for seriously misguided purposes. I’m thinking Young has the money to make this happen in court and -not- take a settlement.
He recently became a US citizen after living here for decades, supposedly just so he could vote against Trump. Amazing.
THR
says Young considered suing Trump for using his music in 2016, but
decided against it because it’s apparently common for campaign venues
to preemptively get public performance licenses from ASCAP and
BMI—meaning Trump could’ve indirectly had Young’s permission to use his
songs at rallies anyway.But what are the chances the Tulsa event planners actually did things correctly and went through ASCAP/BMI? That has to be near zero, doesn’t it?
Appropriate given that John Vernon was also Canadian. Which you may very well alreadt knew, in which case, apologies for being Captain Obvious.
I DIDN’T know that. I will, forthwith, add him to the list all Canadians keep in their head of “American” treasures, that are actually Canadian. Thank you.
You’re welcome from a fellow Canadian with the exact same list.
There’s LOTS of symmetry here. I only just noticed that the OP is Mary Pickford. Proto Canuck Movie Star. Which, perhaps, was the gag.
It’s (k)in(ja)ception!
i don’t have a list of my own, but i hear i appear on the list of many others.
“i am on many lists. Poweful lists.”
-the Canadian Donald Trump
I didn’t know that. Unintended synergy!
“Would you ask David Geffen that?”
Correct me if I am wrong, but doesn’t he have a contract with his recording company that pays him a little bit every time his music is used for something (move, tv show, dance school, whatever). I’m not really taking sides on this, but he’s made his thoughts known, and as long as they pay him royalties every time they use his songs, I don’t see where he has a legal leg to stand on.
I’m not sure what the Born in the USA reference relates to. Despite popular belief Reagan never played the song at a rally. His campaign asked to use it and Bruce said no. Despite that, Reagan referenced Springsteen and the song in a speech and called it a song of “hope.” That showed clearly he, and his campaign, never listened to the lyrics. Springsteen then called him out at his next concert, basically saying that obviously Reagan’s never listened to his music.
I think you just answered your own question (even if the writer was unaware of the subtle differences to the actual story).
That Bruce has been around since caveman days?
Can we just ban all popular music from politics? Makes it a lot easier.
I LOVE the line “AN apple is more intimidating than Donald Trump”. Would like to add that if you bite into him, you’d find worms. He’s chock full of larvae. And pus.