Legendary 80-year-old Canadian-American rock icon Neil Young has launched a $10 million federal legal action against the Trump 47 fundraising committee, accusing the pro-Donald Trump political group of illegally using his 1989 seminal track *Rockin’ in the Free World* at an October 12 campaign rally in Youngstown, Ohio, without explicit permission or a required public performance license. Filed through Young’s own Silver Fiddle Music, the five-page lawsuit outlines that the track was played to a live rally audience moments before former U.S. President Donald Trump took the stage, constituting a clear unauthorised public performance that violates U.S. copyright law. This marks the second time Young has taken legal action over the misuse of his music by Trump-aligned political entities: back in 2020, he sued Trump’s then-re-election campaign for using both *Rockin’ in the Free World* and his track *Devil’s Sidewalk*, a case that the campaign settled immediately after being served, with a formal promise to never use Young’s creative work without prior written approval. The new legal filing alleges that the Trump 47 Committee, and Trump personally, were fully aware that a public performance license from the song’s copyright holder was mandatory to play the track at campaign events, even if a campaign owns a purchased physical or digital copy of the recording. U.S. copyright regulations specify that no blanket public performance right exists for sound recordings, meaning political event organisers must secure explicit permission directly from the musical work’s copyright holder, or through a licensed performing rights organisation, to play tracks for public audiences. Young, a longstanding vocal critic of Trump’s policies and public conduct, stressed in the suit that *Rockin’ in the Free World* is a scathing, socially conscious anthem that critiques empty U.S. political rhetoric and highlights the systemic hardships facing marginalised, overlooked communities including unhoused and low-income Americans, making the track ideologically diametrically opposed to every value Trump and his campaign represent. Young publicly announced the lawsuit on his official website on a Tuesday, with a sardonic note thanking Trump for attending multiple of his live concerts back in the 1980s and 1990s, but clarifying that this history does not extend to granting permission for political use of his music, adding that he was forced to pursue legal action because financial accountability is the framework the Trump campaign operates within. The lawsuit also notes that the unauthorised play of *Rockin’ in the Free World* has not been an isolated incident, with the track being used repeatedly at multiple other Trump campaign rallies. Young joins a long list of high-profile musical artists including The Rolling Stones, Rihanna, Adele, R.E.M., and the estate of Prince, all of whom have previously publicly condemned Trump for using their creative works at campaign events without prior consent. The BBC has reached out to the Republican National Committee for an official statement, after the White House directed all media inquiries on the matter to the RNC, which has not yet issued a formal response at time of reporting.
Neil Young again sues Trump campaign for playing Rockin’ in the Free World at rally
