Trump Gets Sued By Musician’s Family

The family of the late singer Isaac Hayes has sued President Trump’s campaign, alleging his campaign over copyright infringement.

According to the lawsuit, Hayes’ family is suing the Trump Campaign for $3 million over Trump’s use of Hayes’ hit song “Hold On, I’m Comin.”

The lawsuit alleges Trump used the song over 134 times since 2022 at his rallies and other events.

The suit states, “It has come to our attention that you or the campaign have authorized the illegal public performance of the Song on multiple occasions during various rallies for your political campaign without authorization from the copyright holder, despite being asked repeatedly not to engage in such illegal use by our client,”

Late singer and songwriter Isaac Hayes Estate has filed a demand for Trump to stop playing his favorite song that he dances to at rallies, and pay $3 Million for illegally using the song over 100 times. pic.twitter.com/3cCgf6JlmQ

— Parthiban Shanmugam (@hollywoodcurry) August 12, 2024

Here’s what The Hill reported:

The family of late soul singer Isaac Hayes filed a suit against former President Trump’s campaign on Sunday, alleging copyright infringement over the use of his music at Trump’s rallies.

The suit demands $3 million in damages for 134 uses of the song “Hold On, I’m Comin’” at rallies from 2022 through this year. The song was used most recently at Trump’s rally in Montana on Friday, according to the suit.

Hayes was a songwriter for the hit song performed by Sam & Dave in 1966, and his estate owns its rights.
“It has come to our attention that you or the campaign have authorized the illegal public performance of the Song on multiple occasions during various rallies for your political campaign without authorization from the copyright holder, despite being asked repeatedly not to engage in such illegal use by our client,” the suit reads.

The suit also demands the campaign remove any video that includes the song in the background, and issue an acknowledgement and apology over use of the song.

According to a post from the late artist’s son, the Hayes estate is bringing the suit against Trump after the use of one of his songs during the former president’s campaign rally. https://t.co/EbHYIAb0hU

— KCTV5 News (@KCTV5) August 12, 2024

Per BBC:

The family of the late soul singer Isaac Hayes has ordered Donald Trump to stop playing the star’s song Hold On, I’m Coming at his campaign rallies.

A letter sent to Trump and his team, and shared by Hayes’ son on social media, threatens to sue the former US President if he does not comply by 16 August.
The family is also demanding $3m (£2.4m) in licensing fees for the campaign’s repeated use of the song between 2022 and 2024.

The song, which was made famous by soul duo Sam and Dave, is a regular feature of Trump’s rallies, often playing before and after his speeches.

Hayes composed the song in 1966 with Dave Porter, when he was a staff writer at Stax Records. He went on to become a Grammy and Oscar-winner in his own right, with hits like Shaft and Walk On By.
In their legal letter, Hayes’ family claimed to have “asked repeatedly” for Trump to stop using the song. They go on to cite 134 occasions on which the campaign went ahead anyway.