Courts

You Could Make A Playlist Of All The Musicians Who Sued Trump For Playing Their Music

So we did! Gather round and listen!

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(Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)

If you’ve been to a Trump rally, how’s Foley & Lardner treating you? Everyone else has heard their snippets of talking points and applause from a rally recording, but that might be all you’ll hear there soon enough. Many musicians and their estates have issued cease and desist letters or lawsuits over their music being played for Donald Trump’s campaign trail. The most recent loss was dealt by Eddie Grant. The Guardian has coverage:

Donald Trump has lost a legal battle with the singer Eddy Grant over using his 1983 song Electric Avenue in a 2020 ad without permission.

The 40-second clip – an animation of Joe Biden travelling in a railroad cart while a Trump-Pence campaign train passes at high speed – was viewed more than 13.7m times on Twitter before it was removed, according to Grant’s lawsuit…In a Manhattan court, a federal judge ruled that Trump breached Grant’s copyright and is liable for damages and Grant’s legal fees.

One of Grant’s lawyers, Brett Van Benthysen, shared that they got “100%” of what they were looking for from the lawsuit.

We’ve never been big on playlists but this sheer number of musical Ls is worth celebrating. What better way to commemorate Trump’s list of musical woes than by creating a playlist!

Hat tip to Benjamin Leatherman‘s thorough rundown of songs on the no-no list.

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This is by no means a complete list for two reasons. The first is that the list will likely grow over the next few months of campaigning. The second is that several artists have issued wholesale prohibitions on Trump playing any of their songs. Here are a few examples:

For what it’s worth, Trump and his campaign buddies have great taste in music. If only the musicians liked him back. 🙁

Donald Trump Loses Legal Fight Over Using Eddy Grant Song Without Permission [The Guardian]
Here’s Every Musician With A Beef Or Lawsuit Against Donald Trump [Phoenix New Times]

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Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s.  He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at [email protected] and by tweet at @WritesForRent.

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