The Gateway Pundit’s Kristinn Taylor reported Saturday that the rock band Foo Fighters threatened President Trump with “appropriate actions” after their 1990s hit “My Hero” was played while Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. took the stage at a rally in Glendale, Arizona Friday night. Now, news has emerged suggesting that they should be the ones facing said “appropriate actions.”
The Foo Fighters posted two comments on X/Twitter Friday night about “My Hero” being played at the Trump/Kennedy rally. The first was a simple “No” when asked if they had given approval and later a brief “Let us be clear” comment that post-quoted the earlier comment:
Let us be clear. pic.twitter.com/gexHWjPMYh
— Foo Fighters (@foofighters) August 24, 2024
The rock band said it would not only take legal action against the Trump campaign but also donate any royalties from its lawsuit to the socialist Harris/Walz ticket. The Trump campaign responded by insisting that they did have a license to play “My Hero,” however.
One news outlet has uncovered the truth, and it turns out the Foo Fighters lied. The Independent reported Saturday that The Trump campaign DID have permission to play “My Hero” at the rally.
The paper has seen documents that confirm that Team Trump licensed the song from BMI’s Songview service.
The Foo Fighters ignored the fact they sold their rights to BMI while threatening to sue the Trump campaign. What dishonest, virtue-signaling leftists.
TGP’s Taylor previously posted an explanation of the music rights issue via WRC-TV:
“You do not need to license the master recording of the song for a live performance only. So, what would normally happen is when you go to a concert, the venues themselves get what’s called a blanket license from the performance rights organizations.”
But even with that license, an artist or license holder can still object. So, campaign organizers often just press play on a song and hope it doesn’t anger those holding the rights to it.
…Artists, however, do not always have control over how and when their music is played. Political campaigns obtain licenses from performing rights organizations like ASCAP that enable them to use a wide variety of songs from the catalogs of recognizable artists at live events. If an artist objects to its use, the song is pulled from the license.
“If the artist has already gone to the PRO and told them to stop using it …your first step is a cease and desist letter from a lawyer. And sometimes that will work. And it does in many cases,” Freundlich said. “Now, once it’s pulled, technically, it’s a copyright infringement for the campaign to continue to use it.”
But not every campaign immediately complies, risking up to $150,000 in statutory damages from the copyright infringement for each work used.
The next question is whether the Trump campaign will attempt to sue the Foo Fighters for defamation. While many would say this is a waste of time, some of his 45th President’s biggest fans want him to take this step.