News Americas, New York, NY, 13 September 2024: Guyanese-British singer Eddy Grant has won a copyright infringement lawsuit against former US President Donald Trump after a federal judge ruled that Trump’s 2020 campaign illegally used Grant’s hit song “Electric Avenue ” in an unauthorized campaign video.
The issue was raised by Grant in 2020, when Trump’s team used the 1982 chart-topping song in a video shared on social media attacking then-presidential candidate Joe Biden. Grant expressed concern about the unauthorized use of his music, which led to the lawsuit.
Trump’s legal team had argued that their use of the song fell under the fair use doctrine, which allows limited reuse of copyrighted material under certain circumstances. However, Judge John G. Koeltl firmly rejected this argument, stating that the campaign video did not modify the song’s lyrics, vocals or instrumentation and offered no justification for its widespread use.
In his ruling, Judge Koeltl said: “The video has a very low degree of transformation, if any at all,” describing it as “wholesale copying of music to accompany a political campaign ad.”
After the ruling, Grant’s attorney, Brian D. Caplan, said his client was “pleased” with the decision, noting that it underscores the importance of protecting artists’ rights. “Politicians are not above the law, and the court reaffirmed that,” Caplan said.
While the court ruled that Trump and his campaign were legally liable for copyright infringement, the amount of damages Trump will have to pay Grant has yet to be determined in future proceedings.
Trump has faced similar complaints from other artists during his political campaigns. Notable acts such as Beyoncé, Celine Dion and ABBA, as well as the estates of Sinead O’Connor and Isaac Hayes, have expressed opposition to the unauthorized use of their music.
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