Musician Eddy Grant Sues Trump, Campaign Claiming Unauthorized Use of 'Electric Avenue'
Trump's tweet remains available on Twitter, and had been retweeted more than 138,000 time as of Tuesday afternoon.
September 01, 2020 at 04:45 PM
4 minute read
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Manhattan federal court, said that President Donald Trump and his campaign had refused to remove the 55-second video, despite repeated warnings that it was an "unauthorized use" of Grant's famous recording.
The video, which Trump posted to his personal Twitter account Aug. 12, features a high-speed animated train bearing the words "Trump Pence KAG 2020," while a likeness of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden trails behind, operating a slow-moving handcar.
"Electric Avenue," meanwhile, begins playing at the 15-second mark and can be heard throughout the duration of the video, along with "out-of-context excerpts" from the former vice president's speeches and interviews, the suit said. Trump's tweet remains available on Twitter and had been retweeted more than 138,000 time as of Tuesday afternoon.
"Despite plaintiffs having sent defendants a letter the very next day objecting to defendants' infringement and demanding the removal of the infringing video and that defendants refrain from further infringing plaintiffs' copyrights, and despite numerous comments on Mr. Trump's August 12, 2020 tweet linking to articles reporting on the infringement, defendants have continued to willfully and wrongfully infringe plaintiffs' copyrights," Grant's Reitler Kailas & Rosenblatt attorneys wrote in the 11-page complaint.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond Tuesday to an email seeking comment on the filing.
Grant, a Guyanese-British singer-songwriter and founding member of the pop group The Equals, originally assigned the song's copyrights to his company Greenheart Antigua in 1983, the same year "Electric Avenue" spent five weeks at No. 2 on Billboard Magazine's Top 100 Chart. The recording was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
According to the complaint, Greenheart Antigua's licensing arm, Greenheart UK, briefly licensed the copyrights to Warner Music in 2001 upon the release of Grant's greatest hits album. Greenheart UK became the beneficial owner of the copyrights in 2006, when the five-year agreement with Warner Music expired.
Grant's attorneys said in the lawsuit that it appeared as though Trump and Donald J. Trump for President Inc. had "financially and politically benefited" from the allegedly infringing video, which had been viewed more than 13 million times.
According to the filing, Grant's lawyers sent a letter to Trump and his campaign Aug. 13 demanding that they "cease and desist from any further infringing conduct," and Grant has publicly stated his "dismay" that 'Electric Avenue' was used without his permission."
"Defendants have failed and/or refused to comply with Plaintiffs' demands set forth in the August 13, 2020 letter, have continued to infringe Plaintiffs' copyrights in the composition and the recording, and, upon information and belief, will continue to infringe plaintiffs' copyrights in the composition and the recording unless enjoined by this court," the two-count lawsuit said.
Grant is represented in the suit by Brian Caplan, Robert Clarida and Julie B. Wlodinguer of Reitler Kailas in Manhattan.
The case, captioned Grant v. Trump in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, had not yet been assigned to a judge, as of Tuesday afternoon.
Read More:
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllGC Pleads Guilty to Embezzling $7.4 Million From 3 Banks
Luigi Mangione Defense Attorney Says NYC Mayor’s Comments on Case Raise Fair Trial Concerns
4 minute readDistressed M&A: Mass Torts, Bankruptcy and Furthering the Search for Consensus: Another Purdue Decision
Law Firms Mentioned
Trending Stories
- 1Trailblazing Broward Judge Retires; Legacy Includes Bush v. Gore
- 2Federal Judge Named in Lawsuit Over Underage Drinking Party at His California Home
- 3'Almost an Arms Race': California Law Firms Scooped Up Lateral Talent by the Handful in 2024
- 4Pittsburgh Judge Rules Loan Company's Online Arbitration Agreement Unenforceable
- 5As a New Year Dawns, the Value of Florida’s Revised Mediation Laws Comes Into Greater Focus
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250