Culture 3 min read By Trevor Kendall
Neil Young sues Trump committee for $10 million over « Rockin’ in the Free World »
Neil Young has filed a $10 million copyright infringement lawsuit against Donald Trump’s political committee, alleging it continued using his song « Rockin’ in the Free World » at rallies despite a prior legal agreement.
Neil Young has filed a $10 million copyright infringement lawsuit against the Trump 47 Committee, the political action committee tied to Donald Trump, alleging that the group continued to use his song « Rockin’ in the Free World » as walkup music at campaign events in violation of a prior legal agreement.
The suit was filed Monday against Trump 47 Committee Inc. It alleges that the song has been played as the president’s entrance music at midterm election rallies. Young’s complaint argues that the use is unauthorized and that the committee ignored an earlier settlement covering the same track. The filing seeks $10 million in damages.
Young has been objecting to the president’s use of the song for more than a decade. In the public statement that accompanied the case, the singer’s position has been consistent: he has repeatedly told Trump to stop playing the track. The new lawsuit comes six years after a previous settlement between Young and Trump’s political operation over the same song, a deal that was meant to end the unauthorized use. Young’s legal team contends that the committee returned to the track anyway, prompting the new filing.
The dispute reflects a recurring tension between musicians and political campaigns that use popular recordings at public events. Artists have frequently objected when politicians play their songs, and copyright claims are one of the few legal tools available to them, since the rights to public performance generally rest with the artist or the publisher rather than with the campaign using the music.
The case also arrives amid a wider wave of music-industry litigation. In a separate federal case reported the same week, the owners of the rights to Elvis Presley’s music sued the AI company Anthropic for copyright infringement, demanding nearly $50 million in damages. The 28-page complaint, filed in the Northern District of California, accuses the company of prioritizing a potential multitrillion-dollar stock offering over respecting the copyright of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll. The plaintiffs include a collection of stakeholders and music companies that control the rights to Presley’s catalog.
Young’s suit against the committee is the latest chapter in a long-running dispute over a song that has become one of his best-known political statements. Whether the court will side with Young, and whether the committee will respond publicly, remains to be seen as the case moves forward.
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