Donald Trump will reportedly speak under oath after reggae singer Eddy Grant agreed to extend the discovery phase of a lawsuit against the former US president.
Grant, whose hit song ‘Electric Avenue’ was used by Mr Trump during his 2020 campaign, had filed the copyright infringement lawsuit in September 2020.
Mr Trump failed to get the case dismissed last year and both sides had been trying to reach an agreement in the discovery phase of the lawsuit.
According to a letter obtained byBusiness Insider on Wednesday however, that effort had failed and the case looked set to head toward the recording of depositions.
It means Mr Trump will be expected to sit for a deposition involving his own lawyers and those for Grant if both sides fail to come to a settlement before 21 June.
In a letter to a New York judge, Grant’s lawyer wrote that “with consent from defendants Donald J Trump and Donald J Trump for President, Inc” they were writing “to request a 60-day extension for the parties to complete discovery”.
Although exchange of documents had been completed, the letter explained, “additional time is needed to schedule and take the depositions of both parties”, that will be taken under oath and used in court if the lawsuit eventually reaches trial.
While the case could still be settled without Mr Trump going to trial, a judge has already ruled against his claims of fair use and presidential immunity in his use of the ‘Electric Avenue’ hit.
Despite many attempts, Mr Trump has so far sat for only one deposition under oath once since becoming president in 2017, which according to Business Insider was for a case in which security guards for Trump Tower were accused of assaulting four New York residents of Mexican heritage.
His deposition will appear as evidence during an upcoming trial.
Grant is reportedly seeking $300,000 (£229,000) in damages and claims copyright infringement, and alleged in his lawsuit in 2020 that Mr Trump’s video featuring his hit had been viewed “more than 13.7m times; the tweet containing the video had been ‘liked’ more than 350,000 times, re-tweeted more than 139,000 times, and had received nearly 50,000 comments” in a month.
The Independent has approached Mr Trump and Grant for comment.
