Twitter has removed the video from a tweet made by President Donald Trump that included music from reggae singer Eddy Grant, NBC News reported. Grant has also sued the president for infringing on his copyright.
On August 12, the president posted a video depicting an animated train with his campaign logo speeding through a town while Biden follows along slowly in a railroad handcar. In the background, the 1982 Eddy Grant hit played, accompanied by audio of remarks Biden made in 2017 referring to kids’ rubbing his leg hair and jumping on his lap.
Eddy Grant’s attorney, Wallace E.J. Collins, sent the campaign a cease-and-desist letter, accusing them of “willfully and wrongfully” violating his client’s copyright.
“If you know my client’s reputation, then you know that this Infringing Use in connection with the name Trump in a political context is a serious transgression,” Collins said.
He also alleged that the campaign’s unauthorized use of the song causes “substantial damage and irreparable harm” to Grant, claiming that his reputation will suffer if his song associated with Trump.
Brian Caplan, another attorney for Eddy Grant, also noted that there are two copyright issues at play here: first, that the Trump campaign used Grant’s song without his permission, and second, that the video was retweeted millions of times, as CNN reported.
As The Hill reported, Twitter confirmed on Tuesday that it had removed the video.
However, earlier on Tuesday, before Twitter removed the video, Eddy Grant sued the Trump campaign.
“As of the date of this filing, the infringing video is still available on Twitter,” Eddy Grant stated in the complaint, which alleges further that, unless a court specifically blocks the Trump team from using his song, it will continue to be used against the songwriter’s wishes.
“I call upon such arbiter, as is responsible for this sordid abuse, to come forward like a man and let’s sort this thing out, in the way that America demands when such issues are to be sorted, especially when they are wrong. Mr. Trump, I am calling on you. You are the final arbiter and I await the word from you,” Eddy Grant said.
Eddy Grant joins a growing list of performers who have taken exception to the Trump administration using their music without their permission, either via by complaining publicly, taking legal action, or both. As previously reported by The Inquisitr , Neil Young has repeatedly blasted Trump for using his songs without permission. The rocker says that he does not support Trump and does not want his music associated with him.
