ATLANTA (AP) — A federal judge in Atlanta ruled Tuesday that Donald Trump and his campaign team must stop using the song “Hold On, I’m Coming,” while the family of one of the song’s co-writers files a lawsuit against the former president over its use.
The estate of Isaac Hayes Jr. filed a lawsuit last month claiming Trump, his campaign and several of his allies violated copyright and must pay damages. After a hearing on the estate’s request for a preliminary injunction, U.S. District Judge Thomas Thrash ruled that Trump must stop using the song, but he denied a request to force the campaign to remove all existing videos featuring the song.
Hayes, who died in 2008 at the age of 65, and David Porter co-wrote “Hold On, I’m Coming,” a 1966 hit by soul duo Sam and Dave.
Ronald Coleman, a lawyer for Trump, told reporters after the hearing that the campaign had already agreed not to use the song in the future: “The campaign has no interest in upsetting or hurting anyone, and if the Hayes family feels like it hurts or upsets them, that’s fine, we’re not going to force anything.”
Coleman said they were grateful that the judge acknowledged that at this point in the litigation, it would be an overstep of his authority to order the campaign to remove existing videos.
Hayes’ son, Isaac Hayes III, told reporters he was “very grateful and happy” about the judge’s decision.
“I want this to be an opportunity for other artists to come forward and not want their music to be used by Donald Trump or other political actors. I also want to continue to fight for the rights and copyrights of music artists,” he said.
A Series of artists and their heirs have objected to the use of their songs at Trump’s events. After a video of Celine Dion singing “My Heart Will Go On” was shown at a Trump campaign rally in Bozeman, Montana, last month, make a statement She said the singer does not condone this use of her song, adding: “This use is not authorized in any way.”
In the run-up to the 2020 election, Bruce Springsteen, Rihanna, Phil Collins, Pharrell, John Fogerty, Neil Young, Eddy Grant, Panic! at the Disco, REM and Guns N’ Roses all spoke out against Trump’s use of their songs.
