Family of R&B artist sues Trump campaign over use of song

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – The family of a well-known R&B artist is suing the campaign of former president and current Republican nominee Donald Trump over his use of the hit song “Hold On, I’m Coming.”

The single, by artist Isaac Hayes, has been played at Trump rallies from Charlotte to Atlanta, and after his speech at the Republican National Convention last month.

Hayes’ son, Isaac Hayes III, estimates it’s been played 134 times at Trump campaign events.

“That we know of,” Hayes said. “And probably a lot more.”

By and large, rights to songs are consolidated into catalogs held by entities like Broadcast Music Inc., and the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers, which count millions of songs in their collections.

But they’re more like custodians of licensing — if an artist or writer owns the rights to their own music, they can still refuse its release to interested parties.

“Even for the blanket license that gives you access to the totality of the BMI catalog, individual writers have the right to remove or withdraw permission, and that is what is being alleged,” said entertainment attorney Steve Sidman, whose been practicing entertainment and copyright law in Atlanta for nearly 30 years.

“Even if the (Trump) campaign had been appropriately licensed, and they claim that they were, that permission with respect to that particular song had been withdrawn,” Sidman said.

Fines for willful copyright violations can exceed $150,000 per violation, Sidman said. The Hayes family on Thursday sued the Trump campaign for $3 million in damages.

“So this is a discount,” said Hayes III. “It’s not really more about politics, it’s more about the character of the person.”

Hayes, who admitted he’s not a fan of Donald Trump, said the issue is about more than politics for him. His father lost the rights to his music shortly before Hayes III was born. The family has since re-obtained the rights, which puts them in a unique position to not only refuse usage but also take legal action in light of violations.

“We’re in this unique position as the family and the heirs to actually control those rights,” said Hayes III. “We’ve gotten a lot of support from musicians because they can’t do that. It’s very rare that you see people taking these stances because they’re not in the unique position to actually own the copyright.”

Hayes also said his efforts to get his father’s music out of politics music is something Trump should understand.

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“The fact that Donald Trump has been able to build his legacy off his father’s name, and he understands the value that’s in that, but not to acknowledge the respect, the value that Isaac Hayes left his family and step on that, he understands exactly what he’s doing, so we have to take action to get him to stop playing the record,” he said.

There’s a long history of tiffs between musical artists and political campaigns, dating back decades. As recently as this year, Celine Dion asked the Trump campaign to refrain from playing her songs at his rallies. The presidential campaign of the late John McCain clashed with artists like Abba, Bon Jovi and the Foo Fighters, while Mitt Romney was asked by Al Green to cease using his music at rallies.

George HW Bush was asked the same by Bobby McFerrin and Sting, while Trump has been asked by Adele, Celine Dion, Aerosmith, Neil Young, and The Rolling Stones among other artists to refrain from using their music.

Even the Obama campaign was asked by BMI to stop using “Hold On, I’m Coming” when he was running for office.

The Trump campaign was not able to respond to Atlanta News First’s request for comment as of the publication of this article.