Left-wing musician Neil Young has launched a $10 million copyright infringement lawsuit over President Donald Trumps use of his 1991 hit Rockin in the Free World at a recent campaign rally.
According to Breitbart, the Canadian-born rocker, a longtime critic of President Trump, is once again attempting to block the songs use at Republican events, this time targeting a rally held in Youngstown, Ohio, on October 12. Young has clashed with President Trump over this very issue since at least 2015, repeatedly threatening legal action whenever the song surfaced at Trump campaign events.
This latest move marks an escalation, with Young moving beyond threats and filing an actual lawsuit seeking $10 million in damages. The complaint, lodged in a Virginia court, argues that the Presidents use of the track is fundamentally at odds with the songs intended message and political meaning.
In the five-page filing, Youngs attorneys describe the song in stark ideological terms. Rockin in the Free World is a blistering anthem that contrasts the hollow promises of American political rhetoric with the harsh realities faced by the poor, homeless and forgotten, the complaint says.
The lyrics paint vivid street-level portraits a mother discarding her baby, addicts lost in despair, garbage piling in the shadows of prosperity while the repeated chorus delivers a savage irony, celebrating freedom that clearly isnt shared by all. In short, the Song is the opposite of everything that Donald J. Trump stands for. The lawsuit thus attempts not only to assert copyright claims, but to frame the dispute as a moral and political clash with the President and his supporters.
Just prior to Trump taking the stage to speak at the Youngstown Rally, the Committee caused Rockin in the Free World to be played. On information and belief, the Committee has caused the Song to be played numerous times at other rallies designed to encourage Republican votes in the upcoming mid-term elections, it continues. The filing suggests that the Trump campaigns use of the song is part of a broader effort to energize conservative voters heading into the elections.
The complaint further argues that President Trump and his team should have known better after a previous legal skirmish. In 2020 Young sued another corporation formed by Trump, Donald J. Trump For President, Inc., for copyright infringement of Rockin in the Free World along with another song written by Young, the document continues.
Donald J Trump For President, Inc. asserted no defense and immediately settled shortly after it was served, promising that it would never again use Rockin in the Free World without a license and permission from Young. While liberal entertainers like Young continue to leverage copyright law to keep their work away from conservative causes, the White House has not responded to the suit.
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