News Americas, New York, NY, September 4, 2024: Lawyers for former President Donald Trump and Guyanese-born singer-songwriter Eddy Grant are headed to a Manhattan courtroom this Friday to battle over Grant’s iconic ’80s hit “Electric Avenue.”
Grant filed a lawsuit against Trump four years ago after the former president tweeted a cartoon mocking Joe Biden that used 40 seconds of “Electric Avenue” without permission. The August 2020 tweet garnered 13.7 million views before being removed by Twitter, and Grant is seeking $300,000 in damages for the unauthorized use.
Grant, who is a UK citizen but now resides in Barbados, is among several artists who have objected to Trump using their music during his political campaigns. However, Grant’s case is unique, as it has gone further than most. While many artists have sent cease-and-desist letters, only Grant and a few others have pursued legal action.
Trump’s legal team is set to argue that Grant failed to properly copyright the sound recording of “Electric Avenue” when it was released in 1983. They acknowledge that the song’s sheet music was copyrighted, but claim the actual recording was not protected, making the sound-recording copyright claim invalid.
Grant’s lawyers dispute this, pointing to the 2001 transfer of the copyright for “Electric Avenue” to Grant’s company, Greenheart UK, after Warner Records’ rights expired. They assert that Grant remains the rightful owner of the song’s sound-recording copyright.
The court will also address whether Grant’s recent 2023 application for a sound-recording copyright on “Electric Avenue” affects the case. As the legal dispute drags on, a trial date has yet to be set.
The case centers on whether Trump’s use of the song constitutes “fair use” under copyright law and whether the song’s value was impacted by its appearance in the tweet. Both sides are preparing for a long-awaited resolution to the four-year legal standoff.
