After threatening to sue President Donald Trump for copyright infringement, Neil Young has voluntarily dismissed the case in New York courts.
The Canadian-born songsmith filed a lawsuit after his songs “Rockin’ in the Free World” and “Devil’s Sidewalk” were played during the President’s now-infamous rally in Tulsa this summer — which featured thousands of empty seats despite his campaign’s boast it had requests for 1 million tickets.
“This is NOT ok with me…,” Young, 75, raged in a tweet at the time.
The “Crazy Horse” frontman’s initial complaint in August said he “cannot allow his music to be used as a ‘theme song’ for a divisive, un-American campaign of ignorance and hate.” Young also alleged that Trump had repeatedly used his music without permission since 2015.
However, at the time, the Commander in Chief’s staff claimed they had paid to license the tunes for a campaign event. In 2016, Young even stated he had “nothing against” Trump using his music legally. “He actually got a license to use it. I mean, he said he did and I believe him … But if the artist who made it is saying you never spoke to them, if that means something to you, you probably will stop playing it. And it meant something to Donald and he stopped.”
Trump later said that “Rockin’ in the Free World was just one of 10 songs used as “background music.” He added, “Didn’t love it anyway” — despite the fact that he went on to use the anthem again during his 2020 re-election campaign. By that time, Young had already become a vocal critic of the current administration, particularly after this summer’s Black Lives Matter protests.
Neither party have confirmed why the musician had his suit dismissed, nor whether they settled out of court, The Guardian reported.
Meanwhile, President Trump faces yet another lawsuit by musician Eddy Grant over the use of his song “Electric Avenue” in a Trump campaign video.
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