Neil Young Slams Trump Again Over 'Rockin' in the Free World' Usage: 'It Goes Against My Wishes'

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Neil Young knows he can't legally stop President Trump from playing his song "Rockin' in the Free World" at rallies, but he reiterated on Tuesday (Nov. 6) that he really wishes the president would cut it out. "DT does not have my permission to use the song 'Rockin' in the Free World' at his appearances," Young wrote on Election Day on his Archives website. "Legally, he has the right to, however, it goes against my wishes."

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday's midterm election, Rihanna, Pharrell and Guns N' Roses all added their names to the growing list of musicians who made it clear that they wanted the President to cease and desist from using their songs at his rallies in support of Republican candidates. Young, a Canadian citizen who cannot vote in U.S. elections, urged others to vote on Tuesday, noting that he made it "perfectly clear" after Trump played "Rockin'" at at event announcing his candidacy in June 2015 that he did not want the New York real estate baron using his music during events.

"I asked him then, in a widely shared, public letter to cease and desist," Young wrote. "However, he chose not to listen to my request, 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. This man does not represent the character of the people in the USA that I have come to know and love."

Rihanna reportedly sent a cease-and-desist letter to Trump's White House counsel recently after the president played her song "Don't Stop the Music" at a rally in Chattanooga, Tennessee. "As you are or should be aware, Ms. Fenty has not provided her consent to Mr. Trump to use her music," the letter reportedly read. "Such use is therefore improper." When the singer caught wind of Trump's use off her song after a Washington Post reporter said that the song was playing and "everyone's loving it," she tweeted, "not for much longer...me nor my people would ever be at or around one of those tragic rallies."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/music/news/neil-young-slams-trump-again-over-rockin-in-the-free-world-usage-it-goes-against-my-wishes/ar-BBPumYI?li=BBnbfcL

Do they just play the chorus to this song? I mean the rest of the lyrics don't play a positive image of the country.

[BigmanPigman]

1. Nobody tells the fake prez what he can and can't do.

"He is the worst person in the world" to quote Keith Olbermann.

[world wide wally]

2. Here is an angle for you musicians whose music he is using.

He is using it for his own monetary profit and that may make a difference. He has never made as much money as he is making in the White House. Can I use your music in a commercial without reimbursing you?

Think of it that way.

[treestar]

3. probably - just like "Born in the USA"

where the right winger fails to listen to the verses.

[nykym]

4. Send them a

an invoice and include a royalty statement.
Yea I know he just does not pay his bills, but if enough artist follow through
they could start class action suit against him.

[Ms. Toad]

5. The reason he has the legal right to perform is becuase he already is paying royalties.

(Or the venues he's using it in already have a license.) Nearly all music is licensed through ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC. The copyright owners generally do not have a right to control, individually, where their music is used. All Trump had to do to use the music was enter into a license agreement for the appropriate venue (or for the venue to have its own license), and Until recently) there's nothing the copyright owner can do to prevent it. (I used to obtain music licenses - so when musicians started sending cease and desist letters to Trump, my reaction was - fat lotta good that's gonna do.)

"Playing music at a public event requires a license, which generally comes from a few big music-rights agencies like BMI and ASCAP," the Times reported. "Usually, the arenas where politicians appear already possess a blanket license that allows the venue to play any song in the agencies’ vast catalogs."

The agencies, however, typically advise campaigns to buy their own blanket licenses that allow them to play music wherever they are, though it was unclear if the Trump campaign had done so. "In recent years, BMI and ASCAP have written exemptions into these contracts giving musicians the right to stop a politician from using their songs," according to the Times, citing actions taken on behalf of Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler to have his band's music stripped off of Trump's BMI and ASCAP licenses using the argument that playing them created the false impression that Tyler was a Trump supporter; Rihanna's lawyer has reportedly made a similar argument.

[nykym]

6. Well then it is

the artists court to get the exemptions.

Thanks for the info.

[Ms. Toad]

7. I'm not sure whether it is prospective or retroactive -

And they didn't mention SESAC (which can license many of the same songs and may not have the option of an exemption).