Support truly
independent journalism
The family of the late singer-songwriter Isaac Hayes sued Donald Trump and his campaign on Friday, seeking what could be millions of dollars in fees for the alleged unauthorized use of the song “Hold On, I’m Coming” in the former president’s rallies and campaign videos.
The suit, filed in Georgia federal court, also names the Republican National Committee and conservative activist group Turning Point USA.
Lawyers for the Hayes family argue Trump owes the estate $150,000 for each alleged unauthorized use of the song, which the Trump campaign has allegedly used over 100 times.
In addition to the licensing fees, it seeks a disclaimer that the estate has not "authorized, endorsed, or permitted use of the Isaac Hayes Enterprises’ property at any point, now or in perpetuity throughout the universe."
The Independent has contacted the Trump campaign, RNC, and Turning Point USA for comment.
Hayes died on August 10, 2008. He co-wrote the song in question with David Porter, and it was first performed in 1966 by the duo Sam & Dave.
The Hayes estate argues that it regained the copyright to “Hold On, I’m Coming” in 2022, and that the Trump campaign has continued to use the song without permission.
The family sent Trump and his campaign a notice of copyright infringement on August 11, according to a post on X by Hayes’s son, Isaac Hayes III, and sought $3m in licensing fees.
“It has come to our attention that you or the campaign have authorized the illegal public performance of the Song on multiple occasions during various rallies for your political campaign without authorization from the copyright holder, despite being asked repeatedly not to engage in such illegal use by our client,” a letter from Hayes’s lawyer James Walker states.
The alleged unauthorized uses of the song span from 2022 to 2024, the letter says.
Walker demanded that by August 16, Trump and his campaign cease using “Hold On, I’m Coming” and remove all videos featuring the song.
The estate argued that the $3m licensing fee “is a very discounted fee for the normal license fee associated with this many multiple uses. The normal fee for these infringements will be 10 times as much if we litigate, starting at $150,000 per use.”
The August 11 letter came more than a week after Hayes III posted that the Trump campaign used the song without the family’s approval at his Atlanta rally.
He wrote that his family is “taking legal action to stop the unauthorized use of this song. Donald Trump represents the worst in honesty, integrity and class and [the family wants] no association with his campaign of hate and racism.”
On August 10, the anniversary of Hayes’ death, his son wrote that despite “repeatedly” asking Trump, the RNC and his representatives not to use the song, “in Montana they used it.” Trump spoke at a rally in Bozeman, Montana earlier this month, where he bizarrely claimed that nobody knows Vice President Kamala Harris’ last name.
Porter, who co-wrote the song with Hayes, told The Independent last month: “I can say [that] I don’t want any of my songs used for political campaigns,” The 82-year-old added: “Certainly including this one… We create music for uplifting people, not separating them.”
This isn’t the first time Trump has faced the ire of musicians.
This month, Celine Dion’s X account wrote that her management team “became aware of the unauthorized usage of the video, recording, musical performance, and likeness of Celine Dion singing ‘My Heart Will Go On’ at a Donald Trump / JD Vance campaign rally in Montana.”
In January, after former The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr discovered that his band’s 1984 song “Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want” was being played at a Trump rally, he wrote on X: “Ahh…right…OK. I never in a million years would’ve thought this could come to pass. Consider this s*** shut right down right now.”
