Left: Isaac Hayes III outside a federal courthouse in Atlanta, Georgia, on Sept. 3, 2024 (AP Photo/Kate Brumback). Right: Donald Trump speaks to members of the media before departing Manhattan criminal court, Monday, May 6, 2024, in New York (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson, Pool).
A federal judge in Georgia will not let President Donald Trump off the hook in a copyright infringement lawsuit filed against him by the estate of Isaac Hayes for his repeated use of the singer-songwriter’s “Hold On, I’m Coming” at his campaign rallies ahead of his election victory last year.
U.S. District Judge Thomas Thrash on Friday refused to dismiss the two primary copyright claims against Trump, but did dismiss several other claims filed against the president, giving him and his campaign a minor victory in the legal battle that will continue to move forward.
The judge also dismissed Turning Point Action, Inc., as a defendant in the case, reasoning that the court lacked jurisdiction over the far-right group founded by Charlie Kirk. Thrash wrote that the organization was not alleged to have engaged in copyright infringement, and that merely having “provided the third party with the opportunity to engage in wrongful conduct is insufficient to survive a motion to dismiss.”
Hayes’ estate alleged that Trump began using the song at campaign events in 2020 and continued to do so through September 2024, even after being sent a cease-and-desist letter. The campaign allegedly played the song “at least 133 times” over that span.
The president earlier this year filed court documents seeking to have him personally removed as a defendant in the lawsuit, arguing that the plaintiffs failed “to allege any infringing or tortious conduct done by him.” Thrash rejected the president’s claim, pointing directly to his alleged involvement in using Hayes’ work at the campaign events.
“The plaintiffs allege that defendant Trump ‘personally selected’ the work, performed it at least 133 times, and recorded and published those rallies on various media platforms,” Thrash wrote in the opinion. “Defendant Trump fails to explain how the allegations that he ‘personally selected’ the work to be played at his campaign events do not state that he infringed on this exclusive right. The court will not dismiss any claims against defendant Trump on this ground.”
Thrash did toss a claim against Trump alleging “false endorsement” under the Lanham Act, reasoning that “courts have repeatedly rejected the proposition that a musical composition could serve as a trademark in and of itself” and that Trump and the campaign are not alleged to have used Hayes’ name “at any point in time.”
He also dismissed a claim that Trump violated the plaintiffs’ “right to publicity,” which occurs when a public figure’s name or likeness is used for the defendant’s benefit without consent.
“As stated above, there is no allegation that the Defendants ever used the Songwriter’s name or likeness,” the order states. “This claim therefore fails and will be dismissed.”
As Law&Crime has previously reported, Hayes’ estate and son Isaac Hayes III in 2024 followed through on their public threats to sue last August after Trump used the song during campaign rallies.
“Today, on the anniversary of my father [Isaac Hayes’] death we have repeatedly asked Donald Trump, the RNC and his representatives not to use ‘Hold on I’m Coming’ written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter during campaign rallies but yet again, in Montana they used it,” Hayes III wrote on X at the time “Donald Trump represents the worst in integrity and class with his disrespect and sexual abuse of Women and racist rhetoric.”
In addition to Trump and his campaign, defendants initially included the Republican National Committee (RNC), the National Rifle Association (NRA), and the organizer of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). However, in September, the plaintiffs voluntarily amended their lawsuit to drop the RNC, NRA, and CPAC from the case.
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