Neil Young Sues Donald Trump Committee For $10 Million Over Rally Song

Neil Young sued a Trump political committee for $10 million after he said “Rockin’ in the Free World” played at another rally without his permission. The singer-songwriter filed his copyright lawsuit against Trump 47 Committee Inc. on Monday, October 26, in Virginia federal court, according to Courthouse News Service.

His complaint pointed to the song playing before President Donald Trump took the stage at an October 12 midterm campaign event in Youngstown, Ohio. The committee faced the claim, while Trump was not named as an individual defendant, Rolling Stone reported.

Young also said the dispute carried a cost beyond the use of a recording: he claimed the association hurt his reputation by suggesting he backed Trump, according to TheWrap. His lawyers argued that the message of the song, with its focus on people left behind, conflicted with the politics of the president using it.

“In short, the song is the opposite of everything that Donald J. Trump stands for,” the filing stated, as quoted by TheWrap.

Young had already taken the Trump campaign to court in 2020 over “Rockin’ in the Free World” and “Devil’s Sidewalk.” That case ended in December 2020 after a settlement that included a promise not to use the song without permission, TheWrap reported.

The new lawsuit alleged the committee lacked the license it needed and had used the song at other events aimed at winning Republican votes in the midterms, Courthouse News Service reported.

The fight over the song stretched back to Trump’s 2015 presidential campaign announcement, when Young publicly objected to its use. He objected again in 2018, Rolling Stone reported, years before the settlement now cited in his latest case.

A separate fight over campaign music reached court in 2024, when the family of R&B great Isaac Hayes challenged Trump’s use of “Hold On, I’m Coming.” Isaac Hayes III announced that a judge had granted an injunction preventing its use at campaign rallies, as AllHipHop reported at the time.

Young’s lawsuit also asked the court to bar the committee from playing any of his songs. Rolling Stone said the White House, the committee and the Republican National Committee did not immediately answer its requests for comment.