The Battle Over ‘Electric Avenue’

News Americas, New York, NY, September 4, 2024: Lawyers for former President Donald Trump and Guyanese-born singer-songwriter Eddy Grant are headed to a Manhattan courtroom this Friday to battle it out over Grant’s iconic ’80s hit “Electric Avenue.”

Grant filed a lawsuit against Trump four years ago after the former president tweeted a cartoon mocking Joe Biden for using 40 seconds of “Electric Avenue” without permission. The August 2020 tweet garnered 13.7 million views before it was removed from Twitter, and Grant is seeking $300,000 in damages for the unauthorized use.

Grant, who is a citizen of the United Kingdom but now resides in Barbados, is among several artists who have objected to the use of Trump’s music during his political campaigns. However, Grant’s case is unique in that he went further than most. While many artists have sent cease and desist letters, only Grant and a few others have pursued legal action.

Trump’s legal team will argue that Grant failed to properly direct the recording of “Electric Avenue” when it was released in 1983. They acknowledge that the song’s music was copyrighted, but claim that the actual recording was not. protected, making the sound – the registration of the copyright claim is invalid.

Grant’s lawyers dispute this, pointing to the transfer of the copyright for “Electric Avenue” in 2001 to Grant’s company, Greenheart UK, after Warner Records’ rights expired. They claim that Grant remains the legal copyright owner of the song’s voice recording.

The court will also address whether Grant’s recent 2023 copyright application of the “Electric Avenue” sound recording affects the case. As the legal dispute drags on, a trial date has not yet been set.

The case centers on whether Trump’s use of the song constitutes “fair use” under copyright law and whether the song’s value was affected by its appearance on Twitter. Both sides are preparing for a long-awaited resolution of the four-year legal deadlock.