A judge on Tuesday blocked Donald Trump from playing a song by the late soul singer and composer Isaac Hayes at his rallies, at least while a lawsuit from the artist’s family seeking a permanent injunction is considered.
The temporary ruling from the federal court judge Thomas Thrash in Atlanta, Georgia, prevents the Republican presidential nominee from further use of Hold On, I’m Comin’, written by Hayes and David Porter and a 1966 hit for the Miami-based soul duo Sam & Dave.
The preliminary order does not require the Trump campaign to take down videos from the internet of previous events at which the song was played as the former president’s exit music, and will remain in effect until the wider lawsuit filed by Hayes’ family is resolved.
A growing number of performing artists have demanded Trump stop playing their music at events in recent months, and threatened legal action for unauthorized use, including Abba, the White Stripes singer Jack White, Celine Dion and Johnny Marr of the British band the Smiths.
Isaac Hayes III, son of the artist who died in 2008, praised the ruling.
“We are very grateful and happy for the decision by Judge Thrash … I couldn’t ask for a better decision. I want this to serve as an opportunity for other artists to come forward that don’t want their music used by Donald Trump or other political entities,” he told reporters, according to Deadline.
Ronald Coleman, a Trump campaign lawyer, said it no longer used the Hayes song anyway.
“The campaign had already agreed to cease further use. We’re very gratified that the court recognized the first amendment issues at stake and didn’t order a takedown of existing videos,” he said, reported by the New York Times.
Trump’s attorneys argued that the Hayes estate was not the license holder for the song, and that it had permission to use it, a statement Hayes family lawyers said was “erroneous”.
Trump has been using Hold On, I’m Comin’ for at least four years, and breached copyright on at least 134 occasions, according to the lawsuit. After one such use, at the 2022 National Rifle Association convention in Houston, Texas, Porter tweeted: “Hell to the No! I did Not and would NOT approve of them using the song for any of his purposes!”
The singer Sam Moore, of Sam & Dave, sang America the Beautiful at Trump’s 2017 inauguration concert. In 2008, he demanded the Democratic then candidate Barack Obama stop using his song Soul Man at campaign events, but performed the track for Obama at the White House five years later.
