The White Stripes sue Donald Trump for ‘offensive’ use of music in presidential campaign

MANHATTAN (CN) — Iconic rock group The White Stripes are suing Donald Trump for his unauthorized use of the band’s 2003 hit song “Seven Nation Army" during his presidential campaign.

In a 13-page lawsuit filed Monday in Manhattan federal court, band members Jack and Meg White targeted a social media clip from Trump, in which the former president is boarding an airplane for Midwestern campaign stops as the song’s distinctive guitar riff plays for the entirety of the video.

The band claims Trump did not ask permission to use “Seven Nation Army” — referred to as the “7NA Works” in the complaint — but said his use of the song was offensive, because they “vehemently oppose” his politics.

“Plaintiffs take a great deal of care in deciding whether, to whom, and on what terms they will license third-party uses of their music, including, especially, the 7NA Works,” the band said in the lawsuit. “Defendants did not seek a license from plaintiffs to use the 7NA Works, but, even if they had, plaintiffs would not have given them one because plaintiffs do not endorse, and do not want to be associated with defendants in any manner.”

Jack White announced the lawsuit Monday via Instagram, writing simply: “This machine sues fascists.”

The lead singer had threatened to sue the campaign last month after Trump’s Communications Director Margo Martin used the video in question in a now-deleted Twitter post on Aug. 29.

“Don’t even think about using my music you fascists,” Jack White wrote in another Instagram caption, referring to the video. “Law suit coming from my lawyers about this (to add to your 5 thousand others.) Have a great day at work today Margo Martin.”

According to the band, Trump’s campaign never responded to its pre-litigation efforts to rectify the situation, leaving the White Stripes with “no choice but to seek judicial recourse in order to hold defendants accountable."

It’s not the first time The White Stripes have gone after Trump for the same issue. In 2016, the band chided Trump for using the same song in his campaign materials, publicly denouncing him and selling shirts that read “Icky Trump” — a spoof on the band’s song Icky Thump — in retaliation.

Based on this history, the band says Trump should have known he was violating their copyright.

“As a self-professed sophisticated and successful businessman with decades-long experience in the entertainment industry (not to mention being on the receiving end of numerous copyright claims by musical artists whose work he used without permission), defendant Trump and the other defendants, his agents, knew or should have known that the use of the 7NA Works in the infringing Trump videos was unauthorized,” the band says in the lawsuit.

Entertainment litigator Robert A. Jacobs — partner at the New York City-based Manatt, Phelps & Phillips — is representing the band in the action.

Trump’s campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the lawsuit.

Trump has run into musical trouble involving other bands in the past. Last week, a federal judge in Georgia ordered Trump to stop using Isaac Hayes’ “Hold On, I’m Coming” after Hayes’ family sued him for using the song in his current campaign. The lawsuit is ongoing. Although Trump was not required to take down existing campaign materials that feature the song, the Hayes’ family took the order as a win.

“We are very grateful and happy for the decision. Donald Trump has been barred from ever playing the music of Isaac Hayes again,” the musician’s son, Isaac Hayes III, said after the ruling.

Additionally, Swedish pop band ABBA released an official statement and cease-and-desist demand that Trump’s team stop using several of the group’s hits, including “Money, Money, Money,” “The Winner Takes it All” and “Dancing Queen,” all of which the campaign supposedly used without permission.

In Trump’s 2020 campaign, he faced criticism from Bruce Springsteen, Rihanna, Phil Collins, Pharrell, John Fogerty, Neil Young, The Rolling Stones, Panic! at the Disco, R.E.M. and Guns N’ Roses for the unauthorized use of their music.

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