"A letter sent to Trump and his campaign team, shared by Hayes's son Isaac Hayes III, threatens Trump with legal action if he continues to use the 1966 Sam & Dave song, written by Hayes and David Porter.
It alleges copyright infringement, and also demands $3m in licensing fees incurred from the use of the song between 2022 and 2024.
The letter, from lawyer James Walker, alleges that the Trump campaign "wilfully and brazenly engaged in copyright infringement", and continued using the song "despite being asked repeatedly not to engage in such illegal use by our client"."
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On Saturday, Hayes III wrote that Trump " who has previously been filmed dancing to Hold On, I'm Comin' " used the song in a Montana rally despite being asked not to.
"We will now deal with this very swiftly ... Donald Trump represents the worst in integrity and class with his disrespect and sexual abuse of women and racist rhetoric."
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"Dion's Titanic soundtrack ballad was the latest peculiar and even comical musical choice by the Trump campaign in recent years.
The Smiths' Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want, a naked and vulnerable plea, was played at a rally in January, prompting the band's Johnny Marr to write:
"I never in a million years would've thought this could come to pass. Consider this ---- shut right down right now."
Michael Stipe of REM said "do not use our music or my voice for your moronic charade of a campaign," after It's the End of the World As We Know It (and I Feel Fine) " a cheerily apocalyptic song " was used in 2015.
So many other musicians have opposed Donald Trump using their music in rallies that they collectively have their own page on Wikipedia.
en.wikipedia.org
Some of the most prominent include Adele, the Rolling Stones and Aerosmith; the estates of the late Leonard Cohen, Luciano Pavarotti and George Harrison have also voiced opposition.
Trump frequently used Neil Young's Rockin' in the Free World at rallies, prompting the Toronto-born musician to write an open letter in 2020 in which he acknowledged he didn't have legal recourse to block the use, but stated:
"You are a disgrace to my country ... Your mindless destruction of our shared natural resources, our environment and our relationships with friends around the world is unforgivable."
