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Donald Trump is no longer allowed to play “Hold On, I’m Coming” at his events.
The Isaac Hayes estate secured a preliminary injunction against the former president at a hearing in Atlanta, Georgia on Tuesday, September 3. Federal Judge Thomas Thrash Jr. ruled, “I do order Trump and his campaign to not use the song without proper license,” as reported by CNN.
“We are very grateful and happy for the decision. Donald Trump has been barred from ever playing the music of Isaac Hayes again. I couldn’t ask for a better decision,” Hayes’ son, Isaac Hayes III, told reporters outside the courtroom.
Hayes’ son hoped this win would inspire other musicians to stand up when their work is used without proper licensing, saying, “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.”
Though Judge Thrash sided with the Hayes estate about future use of “Hold On, I’m Coming,” he denied their request to make the Trump campaign take down older videos that also used Hayes’ song.
“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,” Ronald Coleman, a lawyer for the Trump campaign, said in an email to Rolling Stone.
James Walker, the estate’s lawyer, clarified that the family’s good news was only preliminary, as their case was still headed to trial. Walker believes that during trial they will be able to prove that Trump’s campaign did not have proper licensing to use the song, and therefore would eventually be required to remove old videos using it.
“Hold On, I’m Coming,” was written by Hayes and David Porter, though Trump’s campaign has been using a version of the song popularized by Sam & Dave. Sam Moore, of Sam & Dave, performed at Trump’s inauguration event in 2017.
However, the Hayes estate has allegedly been fighting the campaign’s use of it for years, with the song’s publishers, Universal Music Group and Warner Chappell Music, attempting to send cease-and-desists in 2020.
In August 2024, the estate filed their own $3 million lawsuit, which claims Trump had played the song at his rallies — without permission — over 100 times since 2022. The filing makes the Hayes estate the latest in a long list of artists requesting Trump not play their music.
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