Donald Trump loses legal battle with Eddy Grant on Electric Avenue

Former US President Donald Trump must pay damages to London singer and songwriter Eddy Grant because he used his song “Electric Avenue” without permission.

It took Grant, 76, more than four years to sue the Republican candidate in this year's presidential election in a US court for using a 40-second snippet of the song in his 2020 campaign video.

The video was viewed 13.7 million times before Twitter, now known as X, removed it.

A federal judge in Manhattan ruled that Trump had violated Grant's copyright on his 1983 hit and that he was now required to pay damages and the singer's legal fees.

Grant's battle with the former president began in August 2020, when he was running for re-election to the White House. The songwriter's lawyer, Wallace EJ Collins, sent a cease-and-desist letter to Donald Trump's campaign team.

On Friday, Judge John G. Koeltl rejected arguments by Trump's lawyers that the Twitter video fell under the fair use doctrine of copyright law, which allows the use of protected works in certain situations.

Brian D. Caplan, Mr. Grant’s attorney, said Business Insider: “As a strong advocate of the artist’s rights and the ability to control his creative output, Mr Grant believes the decision will help others in their fight against the unauthorized use of sound recordings and musical compositions.

“Politicians are not above the law and the court has confirmed this.”

Beginning of the month A US judge has ordered the Trump campaign to stop using the song “Hold On, I'm Coming” at its rallies.in response to a lawsuit filed by the family of the song's co-author, Isaac Hayes.

Dozens of other artists have objected to the use of their songs at Trump rallies in recent months, including Abba, Foo Fighters, Céline Dion and Johnny Marr.

Electric Avenue takes its name from South London Road in Brixton, the first market street in the capital to be lit by electricity, and is still part of Brixton Market today.

It inspired Mr Grant's title for the song he wrote in response to the Brixton riots of 1981, which reached number two in the UK and US charts.

Mr Trump's team was asked for comment on the Electric Avenue trial.