Sep 19, 2024 06:00:00

Donald Trump loses copyright infringement lawsuit over music he used in his political campaign

By

Gage Skidmore

A federal district court has ruled in favor of musician Eddie Grant in a copyright infringement lawsuit filed against former President Donald Trump for the unauthorized use of music he used in past political campaigns. Trump's 'fair use' claim was rejected.

Eddy Grant Wins: Trump's 'Fair Use' of 'Electric Avenue' Was Anything But * TorrentFreak
https://torrentfreak.com/eddy-grant-wins-trumps-fair-use-of-electric-avenue-was-anything-but-240916/

Donald Trump loses legal fight over using Eddy Grant song without permission | Music | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/sep/16/donald-trump-loses-legal-fight-eddy-grant-elecric-avenue-permission

In January 2021, during President Trump's term in office, a group of demonstrators supporting Trump entered the U.S. Capitol, resulting in deaths .

After that, Trump posted on Twitter (now X) that 'We will continue to raise our voices in the future, and those voices will not be disrespected or mistreated in any way,' which was deemed to be 'intent to incite further violence,' and social media such as Twitter, Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook froze President Trump's accounts all at once. In November 2022, Elon Musk, who acquired Twitter, restored Trump's account, and although he had indicated his intention not to return to Twitter at one point, he returned to X ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

Former President Trump finally returns to X (formerly Twitter) - GIGAZINE

Trump often causes trouble on social media, and in August 2024, he posted an image of singer Taylor Swift and her fans supporting Trump on Truth Social, a social media site owned by his media company. However, the image was generated by AI, and Swift herself supports Democratic candidate Joe Biden and strongly criticizes Trump.

Donald Trump shares fake image created by AI that claims Taylor Swift is a Trump supporter - GIGAZINE

The issue at issue is a short animation posted on Twitter on August 12, 2020. The animation, created by staff from the Trump campaign, shows a train bearing the Trump campaign logo being chased by a handcart carrying Joe Biden. The animation's background music uses the famous song ' Electric Avenue ' by British singer-songwriter Eddie Grant . It was removed after copyright infringement was pointed out, but it had been viewed more than 13.7 million times before it was removed.

Grant did not seek permission for 'Electric Avenue,' and his lawyer immediately issued a cease and desist order. However, the video was not immediately removed, and the post was finally removed on September 1, 2020, when Grant's lawyers filed a lawsuit alleging copyright infringement and seeking damages.

In response to the lawsuit, Trump's lawyers argued that 'the ad is satire and is not subject to copyright law. It also constitutes fair use , including the use of footage that was reposted without knowing its source.' Fair use is a defense against copyright infringement claims permitted by US copyright law, and even if a copyrighted work is used without the copyright holder's permission, if the reason falls under the four 'fair use principles' of 'the purpose and nature of the use is non-commercial,' 'the nature of the copyrighted work is functional (such as an essay or map),' 'the amount of the copyrighted work used is small and does not touch on the core of the matter,' and 'the use of the copyrighted work does not have a negative impact on the market,' there are cases in which the unauthorized use does not constitute copyright infringement.

The U.S. District Judge John Coeltl, who handled the case, found that the use of Electric Avenue was a 'massive copy' to support a political advertising campaign, and that the cartoon was not a parody that qualifies for fair use, but rather a less useful, similar satire. According to Coeltl, while Trump's defense argued for fair use, they did not provide any evidence or basis that would support the fair use doctrine, and the movie itself did not seem to justify the inclusion of Electric Avenue, so fair use could not be recognized.

In October 2021, about a year after the lawsuit was filed, Trump's defense's fair use claim was already being denied, and the defense again argued absolute immunity , which states that 'public officials are completely immune from criminal prosecution and lawsuits for damages as long as they are acting within the scope of their duties.' However, even though this claim was quickly rejected, the ruling was delayed for another three years until 2024. As a result, in September 2024, citing the wording of the 2021 dismissal of the defendant's motion to dismiss, Coeltl concluded that 'Trump's animation was for commercial gain, and he transformed artistic copyrighted works from their original concept to offensive intent, and then disseminated a large number of copies that affected the market,' and that none of the fair use doctrines were met.

Grant's defense sought $300,000 in damages, but the final amount has yet to be determined.