Assignment #6 Copyright and Fair Use

 For the past few years, elections and politics have been at the forefront of the minds of many, it made for the perfect time to experience copyright and fair use needs are fought for. What better way for a candidate to strut out on stage at a campaign event than to a popular song to get the crowd pumped and engaged. There have been various politicians who utilized songs by popular artists without taking the necessary steps to get the approval of the artists on owners over the rights to the music. According to copyright.gov fair use is defined as, “Fair use is a legal doctrine that promotes freedom of expression by permitting the unlicensed use of copyright-protected works in certain circumstances. ”Who better to look into than the household name in this country for his single term spent as the 45th President of the United States, known as Donald Trump. 

Back in June of 2020, the family of the late country and classic rock musician Tom Petty spoke out against the use of his music by Donald Trump. While campaigning in Tulsa Oklahoma, one of Petty’s hit songs “I Won’t Back Down” blasted in the background. Soon after hearing that the song had been utilized the family released a statement through Petty’s Twitter account saying, "Both the late Tom Petty and his family firmly stand against racism and discrimination of any kind. Tom Petty would never want a song of his used for a campaign of hate. He liked to bring people together." The family also went as far as to issue a cease-and-desist against the notice to the campaign of Donald Trump.

Rihanna found herself also a victim of the Trump campaign overstepping its boundaries and utilizing her music without her consent. Back in November of 2018, Philip Rucker a reporter and White House Bureau Chief for the Washington Post tweeted about experiencing a Trump political rally in Chattanooga, Tennessee where aides to his campaign aides tossed free t-shirts into the eager and enthusiastic crowd while Rhianna’s popular hit song, “Don’t Stop the Music'' blared through the speaker systems. Soon after seeing the tweet, Rhianna retweeted it and had this to say, “Not for much longer…me or my people would ever be at or around one of those tragic rallies, so thanks from the heads up Philip!” Rihanna’s legal team had a cease-and-desist drawn up and sent to the White House letting them know that they were not authorized to use any of her music and that legal action would ensue if the behavior continued.

The list of musicians that had their music utilized without permission continues with Elton John who had his songs, “Rocket Man '' and “Tiny Dancer” utilized as warm-up songs before speaking at the rally. John spoke out against his songs being used in American politics and attempted to make it clear that his political views do not align with that of Donald Trump. Neil Young fell victim to the same offense in July of last year when a video surfaced of Young’s song being played at a controversial campaign event at Mount Rushmore. Neil was adamantly making it speaking out of his disapproval of his music and standing in solidarity with the Lakota Sioux, the indigenous group. Pharrell William had his popular song, “Happy”  played at a rally back in 2013 on the same day as a deadly shooting that took place in a synagogue in Pittsburgh. He too had a cease-and-desist letter sent to the Trump team voicing his disapproval as well as filling his cease-and-desist. You would think that at a certain point Trump and his team would get the point and stop invading on copyright and fair use laws in place of the long list of musicians, but the rebellious nature of Trump and his team has been made quite evident over the last four years when he served as president.