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Neil Young Sues Trump 47 Committee for $10 Million

By Drooid · Oct 27, 2026, 23:18 UTC · How we work

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Summary

Neil Young sued the Trump 47 Committee for $10 million over copyright infringement.
The committee played Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World” at a rally in Youngstown, Ohio on Oct. 12.
Young filed the complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on Oct. 26.
The complaint says the use violated a 2020 settlement that barred the song’s use without Young’s license.

Summary

Neil Young performed the anthem at the Power to the People Festival with Springsteen, Grohl, Morello.
In 2025 Young released ‘Big Crime’, a protest track targeting President Donald Trump’s administration.
Young gave Greenlanders a free year of archive access after President Donald Trump’s annexation threat.
ABBA joined other musicians demanding President Donald Trump stop using their tracks at campaign events.

History

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, signed on October 28 1998 to implement the 1996 WIPO Copyright and Performances and Phonograms Treaties, criminalized circumvention of digital locks and raised online infringement penalties. Its anti-circumvention rules are now central to Neil Young’s 2024 lawsuit against the Trump 47 Committee for playing “Rockin’ in the Free World” without a license, highlighting tension between political speech and DMCA enforcement.

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Historical Context

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, signed on October 28 1998 to implement the 1996 WIPO Copyright and Performances and Phonograms Treaties, criminalized circumvention of digital locks and raised online infringement penalties. Its anti-circumvention rules are now central to Neil Young’s 2024 lawsuit against the Trump 47 Committee for playing “Rockin’ in the Free World” without a license, highlighting tension between political speech and DMCA enforcement.

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