Several artists and songwriters have objected to the use of their songs as part of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, but the actual legal rulings have been tougher. One such edict came Tuesday when a federal judge in Georgia issued a temporary injunction ordering the Trump campaign to stop using Sam & Dave’s 1960s classic “Hold On, I’m Comin'” at rallies.
Trump's representatives told reporters they would comply with the order, and the song has already been pulled from use during the campaign.
The song has been used as the former president's walkout music at several rallies, and was even played after his speech at the Republican National Convention in July, though this version was performed live by a band — like much of the RNC music — rather than the original recording heard on the track.
The ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by the heirs of Isaac Hayes, who co-wrote the 1966 hit song with David Porter.
“Today our family obtained an injunction preventing @realdonaldtrump from playing @IsaacHayes3’s music again,” Isaac Hayes III tweeted. “We are pleased with the court’s decision and move on to the next phase of this lawsuit,” calling it “the first step in our copyright infringement case against Donald Trump and Donald Trump as President.”
However, the judge gave the campaign a pass, declining to order it to remove any videos that might already exist that include “Hold On, I'm Coming.”
“The campaign has already agreed to stop further use,” said Trump attorney Ronald Coleman. “We are very pleased that the court recognized the First Amendment issues at stake and did not order the removal of the existing videos. … The campaign has no interest in upsetting or harming anyone, and if the Hayes family feels that this is hurting or harassing them, that is fine, and we will not enforce the case.”
“We are very pleased with the court’s decision,” said James L. Walker Jr., who represents the Hayes family in the case. “Donald Trump has been told he cannot use Isaac Hayes’ music without a license. That was our first goal. Now we are working on the trial and the underlying case.”
Although the Trump campaign insists that it does not want to “offend” anyone by using the Sam and Dave song, it has not always shown much sensitivity toward other writers and artists whose music has been appropriated for political purposes, often continuing to release the songs in question long after public objections have been raised and orders to cease use have been threatened.
Celine Dion, the Foo Fighters, Jack White and Johnny Marr of the Smiths are among the latest artists to object to the Trump camp pulling their songs on the campaign trail or in videos, following in the footsteps of Neil Young, John Fogerty, R.E.M., Guns N' Roses and countless others who have made their feelings known strongly this year or in the past two elections.
Ironically, Sam Moore, the sole surviving member of the Sam and Dave duo, is a known Republican, and he sent a letter to Barack Obama's campaign asking them to stop using “Hold On, I'm Comin'” in 2008. “Nobody called me, nobody sent me a telegram, nobody did anything. They just did it, and I think that's pretty rude,” Moore told an Associated Press reporter at the time. The Obama campaign agreed to stop using the song after hearing it from Moore.
