Neil Young has sued a Donald Trump fundraising committee for US$10 million over the use of “Rockin’ in the Free World” at a political rally. It is the second time Young has gone to court over the song.
The complaint was filed on 26 October in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia against Trump 47 Committee, Inc. It says the committee had the song played without a licence just before Trump took the stage at a rally in Youngstown, Ohio, on 12 October, and that it has caused the song to be played “numerous times” at other rallies ahead of the 3 November midterm elections. Trump is not named as a defendant. The filing also lists five unnamed “Doe” defendants, whom Young says he will name once they are identified.
The five-page filing describes the 1989 song as “a blistering anthem that contrasts the hollow promises of American political rhetoric with the harsh realities faced by the poor, homeless and forgotten.” It concludes: “In short, the Song is the opposite of everything that Donald J. Trump stands for.”
It also alleges that Trump “was personally aware that a license would be required to play the Song at rallies and that Young has not, and would not, grant the required license,” and claims Young has suffered damage “to his reputation and brand as a result of the implication that he supports Donald J. Trump in any way.”
Young first objected in June 2015, when the song was played at Trump Tower as Trump announced his first presidential run. In August 2020 he sued Trump’s re-election campaign in Manhattan federal court over the use of “Rockin’ in the Free World” and “Devil’s Sidewalk”, including at a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He dropped that case in December 2020. The new filing says the campaign “asserted no defense and immediately settled,” promising not to use the song again without a licence and Young’s permission.
The filing does not explain how the US$10 million figure was reached. Beyond damages, Young is asking the court to bar the committee from performing the song, or any other composition he owns, at public events, both while the case is under way and permanently.
The suit concerns Young’s rights in the composition rather than any recording. In 2021 Hipgnosis Songs Fund bought a 50 per cent stake in his catalogue of 1,180 songs; that stake now sits with Sony Music Publishing.
Young, who was born in Canada, became a US citizen in 2020. The allegations have not been tested in court, and no response from the committee had been reported at the time of writing.
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