Neil Young granted Tim Walz special permission to use ‘Rockin’ In The Free World’ after suing Trump over it

22 August, 2024

Neil Young and Tim Walz. Credit: Matt Winkelmeyer and Andrew Harnik via GETTY

Neil Young has granted Tim Walz permission to use ‘Rockin’ In The Free World’ after he sued Donald Trump for his use of it.

During the Democratic National Convention in Chicago last night (August 21), Walz went on to officially accept the vice presidential nomination. After the Minnesota Governor’s speech, Young’s 1989 anthem ‘Rockin’ In The Free World’ blared over the speakers in the arena.

As reported by CNN journalist Kaitlan Collins, the track is one of Walz’s personal favourite songs and revealed that according to a campaign official, Young personally allowed the Harris-Walz campaign to use the anthem.

The song was previously used by Trump during his initial presidential announcement in 2015. Young did not grant the former president permission to use his song which led the musician to send repeated cease-and-desist threats, though that did not seem to stop Trump as he continued to use the track.

In 2020, Young filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Trump over his usage of the song. “The Campaign has wilfully ignored Plaintiff’s telling it not to play the songs and wilfully proceeded to play the songs despite a lack of license,” read the lawsuit that was shared on Young’s website.

It continued: “The Campaign does not now have, and did not at the time of the Tulsa rally, have a license or Plaintiff’s permission to play the two Songs at any public political event.”

The lawsuit added that Young is seeking “statutory damages in the maximum amount allowed for wilful copyright infringement.”

The singer has previously shared multiple open letters on his website condemning the former President’s continued unauthorised use of his music.

“Imagine what it feels like to hear Rockin’ in the Free World after this president speaks, like it is his theme song,” Young wrote in a blog post. “I did not write it for that.”

In other news, Young & Crazy Horse recently announced that they will be returning to the stage following the unexpected cancellation of their tour.

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