Neil Young is suing Donald Trump’s political action committee, Trump 47 Committee Inc, for $10 million (£7.47 million) over alleged copyright infringement of his song Rockin’ in the Free World after the US president used it as street music at recent midterm election rallies.
This is the second time Young has filed a lawsuit against one of Trump’s organizations for its unlicensed use of the song. He first did so in 2020, against the Donald J Trump Company for President Inc. Trump settled, promising, according to Young’s lawsuit, that his organization would “never use Rockin’ in the Free World again without a license and permission from Young.”
Filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, the complaint says Trump’s continued use of the song means Young, a highly vocal critic of the president, “has suffered damage to his reputation and brand due to the implication that he supports Donald J. Trump in any way.”
The Trump administration has not yet responded to this complaint.
Young’s case shows how his 1989 song is diametrically opposed to Trump’s values, calling it “a scathing anthem that contrasts the empty promises of American political rhetoric with the harsh realities faced by the poor, the homeless and the forgotten.”
“The lyrics ache with vivid portraits of the streets – a mother abandoning her baby, drug addicts lost in despair, trash piling up in the shadow of prosperity – while the repeated chorus delivers a savage irony, celebrating a freedom that is clearly not shared by all. In short, the song is the opposite of everything Donald J. Trump stands for.”
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Young’s lawyers cite the song being played at the presidential rally in Ohio on Oct. 12, but say it was played “numerous times at other rallies intended to encourage Republican votes in the upcoming midterm elections.” Young is also seeking an injunction against further public performances.
Young’s anti-Trump stance is clear: He has repeatedly condemned the president in writings on his website and in 2025 released a protest song against his administration, Big Crime. “I don’t need fascist rules / I don’t want fascist schools / I don’t want soldiers marching in the streets,” Young sings. “We need to get the fascists out / We need to clean up the White House… more money for the fascists, the billionaire fascists.” »
Over the past 12 months, the Trump presidency has ramped up its strategy of trolling left-wing musicians — including Olivia Rodrigo, Sabrina Carpenter and SZA — using their songs to hype ICE propaganda or clips about Trump’s Iran strategy. In August, Taylor Swift had her song August removed from a video celebrating the Trump presidency.
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