Neil Young performs as part of a historic double bill with Bob Dylan at Hyde Park on July 12, 2019 in London, England.
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Legendary musician Neil Young filed a $10 million lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s campaign committee for violating Young’s copyright by playing his song “Rockin’ in the Free World” just before the president took the stage to speak at an Oct. 12 rally in Youngstown, Ohio.
The Trump 47 committee caused this song, without the musician’s permission, “to be played numerous times at other rallies intended to encourage Republican votes in the upcoming midterm elections,” Young’s lawsuit claims in U.S. District Court in Richmond, Virginia.
Trump “was personally aware that a license would be required to play the song at rallies” and that Young “has not and will not grant the required license,” the complaint filed Monday states.
Young, 80, sued another company created by Trump, Donald J. Trump for President Inc., in Manhattan federal court in 2020 for copyright infringement of “Rockin’ in the Free World” and another song Young wrote, “Devil’s Sidewalk,” for playing the songs without permission at campaign rallies.
In that first case, Trump’s company “asserted no defenses and immediately settled shortly after being notified, promising that it would never use ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’ again without a license and permission from Young,” the new complaint states.
CNBC has requested comment from the Trump 47 committee on the lawsuit and from Young’s attorneys.
The White House, when asked about the comments, referred CNBC to the Republican National Committee, which did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Young, born in Canada, is a naturalized U.S. citizen. He was twice inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: in 1995 as a solo artist and in 1997 as a member of Buffalo Springfield. Young was also a member of the folk rock supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
Young released “Rockin’ in the Free World” in 1989.
His lawsuit describes the tune as “a scathing anthem that contrasts the empty promises of American political rhetoric with the harsh realities faced by the poor, the homeless and the forgotten.”
The lyrics include descriptions of a mother abandoning her baby, her addiction and “the waste that piles up in the shadow of prosperity – while the repeated chorus offers a wild irony, celebrating a freedom that is clearly not shared by all,” the suit notes.
“In short, the song is the opposite of everything Donald J. Trump stands for,” the complaint states.
In addition to the Trump 47 Committee, the complaint lists five other defendants, identified under the pseudonym “Doe,” who Young claims are responsible for infringing Young’s copyrights.
The Oct. 12 Trump rally mentioned in the lawsuit was also the scene of an incident that attracted the attention of local law enforcement. Videos from the rally show several attendees apparently attacking and beating a woman, Blake Miley, who had repeatedly shouted “fascist” at Trump while wearing a shirt reading “Free the Epstein Files.”
Mahoning County, Ohio, Sheriff Jerry Greene is reportedly investigating three people in connection with the incident.
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