Neil Young sues Trump over Ohio rally song

Neil Young says President Trump’s fundraising committee is breaking a vow that “it would never again use ‘Rockin’ in the Free World'” at a campaign rally, and the musician is filing a $10 million copyright infringement lawsuit.

The “Heart of Gold” singer filed the suit against the Trump 47 Committee on Monday. In the filing, Young alleges that his 1989 hit was played just before Trump took the stage at a Youngstown, Ohio, rally on Oct. 12.

The lawsuit described the tune as a “blistering anthem that contrasts the hollow promises of American political rhetoric with the harsh realities faced by the poor, homeless and forgotten.”

“The lyrics paint vivid street-level portraits — a mother discarding her baby, addicts lost in despair, garbage piling in the shadows of prosperity — while the repeated chorus delivers a savage irony, celebrating freedom that clearly isn’t shared by all,” according to the filing.

The song, the complaint said, is “the opposite of everything that Donald J. Trump stands for.”

It’s not the first time that the 80-year-old songwriter has objected to the use of his music by the Trump campaign, first filing a copyright infringement lawsuit in 2020.

According to Young’s latest complaint, Trump’s reelection campaign “asserted no defense and immediately settled shortly after it was served, promising that it would never again use ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’ without a license and permission from Young.”

Young wrote in a 2018 message on his website that he first requested Trump stop using his songs at campaign appearances in 2015.

“I asked him then, in a widely shared, public letter to cease and desist,” Young wrote at the time.

“However, he chose not to listen to my request,” he added, “just as he chooses not to listen to the many American voices who ask him to stop his constant lies, to stop his petty, nasty name calling and bullying, to stop pushing his dangerous, vilifying and hateful rhetoric.”