Isaac Hayes’ family threatens to sue Trump campaign for using his song

The family of the late singer-songwriter Isaac Hayes is threatening to sue Trump and his campaign team over the unauthorized use of the song “Hold On I’m Coming” at rallies and in campaign videos.

In a post on X, Hayes’ son Isaac Hayes III said Trump and his campaign team violated the family’s and Isaac Hayes Enterprises’ copyrights on the song 134 times between 2022 and 2024. If the family is not paid $3 million in royalties by August 16, they will take further legal action against the former president, the family announced.

Hayes, who died in 2008, co-wrote the Sam & Dave song “Hold On I’m Coming” with David Porter in 1966. But Trump recently added the hit to his campaign playlist; his stop in Montana on Friday was the latest example of him using it, according to Hayes III.

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The day after the Montana rally and on the anniversary of Hayes’ death, Hayes III said in another post on X that the family had repeatedly asked Trump to stop using the song and would now “take care of it very quickly.” He also called Trump “the embodiment of the worst integrity and class with his disrespect and sexual abuse of women and his racist rhetoric.”

The next day, Hayes III released a copy of the copyright infringement notice sent to Trump and his campaign, saying the former president continued to use the song at rallies “despite our client’s repeated requests not to engage in such illegal use,” including in Montana, where Trump’s camp “apparently knew you did not have authorization.”

The family says this unauthorized use of the data prompted the notice, which lists four demands that must be met by August 16 before any legal process can begin.

First, it demands that Trump and his campaign stop using “Hold On I’m Coming” and any other intellectual property owned by Hayes’ family or Isaac Hayes Enterprises. It also says the Republican presidential candidate must remove any videos featuring or referencing the song from websites associated with Trump, his campaign, the Republican National Committee and “any related organization or entity.”

The notice also asks the Trump campaign to issue an official statement as a formal disclaimer declaring that Hayes and his family did not “authorize, approve or permit” the use of the property.

Finally, they are demanding the $3 million royalty fee, which they say is “very discounted” considering the number of copyright infringements. The family says if the damages are not paid and a lawsuit is filed, they will demand the “normal fee for these infringements,” which starts at $150,000 per use.

“Please note that any failure or delay in meeting these demands will be considered evidence of intentional infringement and we will have no choice but to take appropriate action against all parties involved,” the statement said. “We therefore hope to resolve this issue quickly and amicably.”

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This is not the first time that Trump and his campaign team have come under criticism for using songs without the artists’ consent, and it was not even the first time in connection with the incidents in Montana.

On Saturday, a post on Céline Dion’s X page said her management team and record label had been made aware of the “unauthorized use of the video, recording, musical performance and image of Céline Dion singing ‘My Heart Will Go On’ at the event.”

“This use is in no way authorized and Céline Dion does not endorse this or any similar use… And really, THIS song?” the post said.

And in January, after Trump played The Smiths’ “Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want” at a rally, the band’s guitarist Johnny Marr wrote on X: “Never in a million years did I think this could happen. Consider this crap shut down immediately.”

Other musicians have criticized Trump’s use of their music, including Neil Young, Adele, Aerosmith, The Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, Guns N’ Roses, Nickelback, Prince, Queen and Tom Petty.