‘This Machine Sues Fascists’: The White Stripes Sue Donald Trump

ADVERTISEMENT

Another day, another unauthorized use of a song by the Trump campaign… This time it’s rock duo The White Stripes suing Donald Trump for the “blatant misappropriation” of their hit single ‘Seven Nation Army’.

The White Stripes add their name to a long list of artists sending letters asking for their songs to be used without permission or even suing Donald Trump.

The American rock band is suing the Republican presidential candidate over the unauthorized use of their 2003 song “Seven Nation Army” in a campaign video posted last month by Margo Martin, Trump’s deputy communications director.

The video, posted on August 29 and since deleted, shows the former president boarding a plane to the sounds of the opening theme of “Seven Nation Army.”

Jack White wrote at the time: “Don’t even think about using my music, you fascists. There will be a lawsuit from my lawyers on this subject (to add to the 5,000 others).”

Now the singer has made good on his threat and, along with bandmate Meg White, has filed a lawsuit for copyright infringement.

According to the lawsuit (per Pitchfork), which was filed in a Manhattan federal court and contains six counts of copyright infringement, the band “strongly opposes the policies and actions adopted by Defendant Trump while he was President and those he has proposed for the second term he is seeking.”

The lawsuit also alleges that Trump and his campaign “have chosen to ignore and fail to respond to Plaintiffs’ efforts to resolve the issues in this case,” and have instead “arbitrarily trampled upon Plaintiffs’ legal rights.”

In a post shared to Instagram yesterday, Jack White captioned a copy of the legal complaint: “This machine is suing fascists.”

Trump has been known to use music at his campaign rallies without permission from the artists. Everyone from Tom Petty, Neil Young, The Rolling Stones to Adele, Bruce Springsteen and Sinéad O’Connor the politician has issued a strike order.

Isaac Hayes’ Estate sued him for 134 counts of copyright infringementand in August, both French artists Wood child And Celine Dion criticized the unauthorized use of their songs at Trump’s rallies.

Dion’s song from the Oscar-winning film Titanic, “My Heart Will Go On,” was used at a rally in Montana. Dion’s team condemned the use and questioned the song choice, writing, “And really, THAT song?” — proving that Trump and his campaign team little to no self-awareness when it comes to culture or the fact that his campaign feels like a sinking ship right now.

One of the most recent cases is that Beyoncé reportedly threatened Donald Trump’s campaign with legal action over unauthorized use of her song ‘Freedom’ in a video on social media, days after the singer approved the song as the official anthem for Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.

According to Rolling StoneThe singer’s record label has sent a letter to the Trump campaign denouncing the action, after Steven Cheung, a spokesman for the former president, posted a now-deleted video on X of Trump getting off a plane to the song “Freedom” playing in the background.

Additional Resources • Pitchfork, Rolling Stone