A federal judge on Tuesday ordered former President Donald J. Trump’s campaign to stop using the song “Hold On, I’m Coming,” by Isaac Hayes, at campaign events in response to a lawsuit from the artist’s estate.
The judge, Thomas Thrash Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, issued a temporary injunction blocking further use of the song “without proper license.” However, Judge Thrash did not grant the estate’s request to order Mr. Trump’s campaign to take down recordings of past events in which it had used the song.
Mr. Trump regularly used the song as his exit music for much of the past year, including at the Republican National Convention in July and as recently as a rally in Bozeman, Mont., on Aug. 9. He has since returned to using the Village People’s “Y.M.C.A.,” which he used to close out his rallies during his 2020 campaign. (The Village People have also previously objected to Mr. Trump’s use of their music.)
“We are very pleased with the court’s decision,” a lawyer for the Hayes estate, James L. Walker Jr., said. “Donald Trump has been told he cannot use the music of Isaac Hayes without a license. That was our #1 goal. Now we work on the underlying trial and case.”
Ronald Coleman, a lawyer for Mr. Trump, said after the ruling: “The campaign had already agreed to cease further use. We’re very gratified that the court recognized the First Amendment issues at stake and didn’t order a takedown of existing videos.”
Mr. Hayes, who died in 2008, wrote the song with David Porter, and it was recorded by the duo Sam & Dave.
Many other artists have objected to Mr. Trump’s use of their music, including at least three over the past month.
The Foo Fighters said in late August that they had not authorized the use of their song “My Hero” to welcome Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to a rally stage in Arizona to endorse Mr. Trump. A representative for Abba said it also had not granted a license for use of its music. And after “My Heart Will Go On” played at the Montana rally, a post on Celine Dion’s Instagram page said that the usage was unauthorized and that the singer did not endorse it. The post added, “And really, that song?”
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