{"id":896090,"date":"2026-10-27T06:34:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T06:34:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/896090\/"},"modified":"2026-10-27T06:34:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T06:34:13","slug":"neil-young-sues-trump-for-10m-over-using-rockin-in-the-free-world-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/896090\/","title":{"rendered":"Neil Young Sues Trump For $10M Over Using “Rockin’ In The Free World” Again"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tAlmost no one expects Donald Trump<\/a> to keep his word, but unlike most, Neil Young<\/a> ain\u2019t taking any crap from the former Apprentice host. <\/p>\n

\n\tHaving repeatedly told Trump to keep his MAGA mitts off his classic Rockin\u2019 in the Free World song, the 80-year-old Grandfather of Grunge took the poll struggling POTUS back to court today with new $10 million copyright infringement suit. <\/p>\n

\n\tAnd, as Young always does on the guitar, the two time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer let Trump have it. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cRockin\u2019 in the Free World is a blistering anthem that contrasts the hollow promises of American political rhetoric with the harsh realities faced by the poor, homeless and forgotten,\u201d the short but sharp complaint says. \u201cThe lyrics paint vivid street-level portraits \u2013 a mother discarding her baby, addicts lost in despair, garbage piling in the shadows of prosperity \u2013 while the repeated chorus delivers a savage irony, celebrating freedom that clearly isn\u2019t shared by all. In short, the Song is the opposite of everything that Donald J. Trump stands for.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tTrump first used the 1991 hit back at the very start of his first serious (semi-serious?) White House run in 2015. Young told him to back off then <\/a>and told Trump to back off again in 2020 with legal action.<\/a> As Young\u2019s critiques of Trump got louder and louder in song and from the stage, it seemed the 45th and now 47th President, or at least his attorneys, got it \u2014 until October 12. in Youngstown, Ohio. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe the five-page filing in federal court in Virginia<\/a> states: \u201cJust prior to Donald J. Trump taking the stage to speak at the Youngstown Rally, the Committee caused Rockin\u2019 in the Free World to be played. On information and belief, the Committee has caused the Song to be played numerous times at other rallies designed to encourage Republican votes in the upcoming mid-term elections.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAs today made clear, you don\u2019t mess with old Neil and you don\u2019t break your word to him. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cDonald J. Trump (\u2018Trump\u2019) is now and at the time of all rallies this year was personally aware that a license would be required to play the Song at rallies and that Young has not, and would not, grant the required license,\u201d proclaims the complaint. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIn 2020 Young sued another corporation formed by Trump, Donald J. Trump For President, Inc., for copyright infringement of Rockin\u2019 in the Free World along with another song written by Young,\u201d the document by lawyers Scott Simmons and Robert Besser against Trump 47 Committee Inc. adds. \u201cDonald J Trump For President, Inc. asserted no defense and immediately settled shortly after it was served, promising that it would never again use Rockin\u2019 in the Free World without a license and permission from Young.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe White House did not respond to Deadline\u2019s request for comment on the complaint. But, with 80-year old Trump posting fast and furiously for struggling GOP candidates, don\u2019t be surprised if the octogenarian barbs starting flying like Tomahawk missiles soon-ish. <\/p>\n

\n\tOn the other hand, the Neil Young, or at least his lawyers couldn\u2019t resist a bit of wit, or at least a legalese laugh at Trump\u2019s expense \u2014 and maybe even their own. \u201cYoung has suffered damage to his reputation and brand as a result of the implication that he supports Donald J. Trump in any way,\u201d the filing says in a statement that literally no one anywhere would ever think. Keep on rockin\u2019 that in the free world.<\/p>\n

\n\tHere\u2019s Neil at last month\u2019s Farm Aid show in the Commonwealth of Virginia showing everyone how it\u2019s done: <\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Almost no one expects Donald Trump to keep his word, but unlike most, Neil Young ain\u2019t taking any…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":896091,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[236,12,88,41987],"class_list":["post-896090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-donald-trump","tag-entertainment","tag-neil-young"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=896090"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896090\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/896091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=896090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=896090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=896090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}