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Young to Trump: Stop ‘rockin’ in the free world’

Posted On: Aug. 5, 2020 2:25 PM CST

Neil Young

Neil Young wants you to “keep on rockin’ in the free world” — unless you’re at a Trump rally.

The singer filed a lawsuit Monday against President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign alleging copyright infringement for using his famous song at his rallies, reported entertainment website SPIN.

The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges that Mr. Young’s music has been used as a “theme song” to create a “campaign of ignorance and hate” and that the campaign was not authorized to use his music at rallies in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and at Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota.

Although Mr. Young previously said he would not sue the president, he no longer has a “heart of gold” and is asking the court for statutory damages in the amount of each willful copyright infringement, which is between $750 and $150,000, according to SPIN.