President Donald J. Trump, paragon of good taste, played the song “Happy” by Pharrell Williams at a political rally in Indiana, the same day that 11 people were murdered at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
In another time, this gaffe would likely have gone unremarked upon by most people, Pharrell included. Surely Trump is not the only person who played “Happy,” a wedding reception staple, that weekend. But this is a moment in which every celebrity feels compelled to perform their politics 24/7, for reasons both virtuous — engaged citizens are entitled to advocate for causes in which they believe, and besides, silence is easily misconstrued as complicity or even tacit support for the worst of a politician’s views — and vacuous (the #brand #is #life).
Monday, an attorney for Pharrell filed a cease and desist letter against Trump, the New York Daily News reports:
“On the day of the mass murder of 11 human beings at the hands of a deranged ‘nationalist,’ you played his song ‘Happy’ to a crowd at a political event in Indiana,” the letter, acquired by the Daily News, reads.
“There was nothing ‘happy’ about the tragedy inflicted upon our country on Saturday and no permission was granted for your use of this song for this purpose.”
Pharrell also said Trump can’t play any of his music without permission and that any continued use of “Happy” will constitute copyright and trademark infringement. As Greg Kanaan at The Legal Artist points out, politicians and their campaigns do have some legal responsibility when using copyrighted songs. But while artists are forever complaining about politicians using their music, violations of these responsibilities rarely proceed to litigation.
In recent years, about a dozen artists have issued similar demands of Trump. Almost since the very moment he hit the campaign trail (or, as the case may be, the campaign escalator), musicians whose work has provided a soundtrack for Trump’s rise have demanded Trump stop using their songs.
This has been an issue from the jump: Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World” played as Trump announced his intention to run for president at Trump Tower. Young, a known Canadian and Bernie Bro, expressed disgust and accused Trump’s team of “unauthorized” use of the track; however, the Trump campaign had actually paid for the use of the song. Nevertheless, the Trump campaign all but stopped playing the song, and Young continued to speak out against Trump “‘cause of the misogyny and the racism.”
Other musicians who demanded Trump stop playing their music to promote his candidacy include: Earth, Wind & Fire, R.E.M., Twisted Sister, Adele, Elton John, the Rolling Stones, Queen, Steven Tyler, and the estates of Prince, George Harrison, and Luciano Pavarotti.
As his 2016 inauguration approached, Trump struggled to find entertainers who would perform as he took office. Aretha Franklin, who sang “My Country Tis Of Thee” at Obama’s first inaugural, declined, as did Elton John and Justin Timberlake. Trump claimed he had no in “the so-called ‘A’ list celebrities” who had no interest in him; he settled for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s rendition of “America the Beautiful.”