Weeks after a federal judge said Isaac Hayes’ estate could pursue its copyright infringement lawsuit against President Donald Trump, the same judge issued a new written ruling dismissing some claims from the complaint while upholding the allegation Trump “personally selected” the song “Hold On, I’m Coming” for use at rallies.
In his underlying dismissal motion filed in January, Trump claimed the Hayes estate had failed to allege any infringing conduct that placed him directly on the hook. In the court’s new ruling issued Friday and obtained by Rolling Stone, U.S. District Judge Thomas Thrash said that wasn’t the case.
“The plaintiffs allege that defendant Trump ‘personally selected’ the work, performed it at least 133 times, and recorded and published those rallies on various media platforms,” Judge Thrash wrote. “Defendant Trump fails to explain how the allegations that he ‘personally selected’ the work to be played at his campaign events do not state that he infringed on this exclusive right. The court will not dismiss any claims against defendant Trump on this ground.”
While upholding the two main copyright infringement claims, the judge did trim other aspects of the lawsuit in a partial victory for Trump. The judge shot down the estate’s “false endorsement” and “right of publicity” claims, saying there was now allegations the defendants used Hayes’ name or likeness when the song was played.
Hayes’ estate sued Trump last year, claiming his campaign used “Hold On” during rallies and in videos, against the wishes of Hayes’ heirs. The musician’s son Isaac Hayes III said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that his family was upset by the infringement.
“Donald Trump represents the worst in integrity and class with his disrespect and sexual abuse of Women and racist rhetoric,” he wrote at the time. “We will now deal with this very swiftly.”
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Hayes, who died in 2008, co-wrote the Stax Records classic before it was performed and released by the duo Sam & Dave.
As part of his written ruling issued Friday, Judge Thrash dismissed one of the co-defendants from the case. Turning Point Action, Inc., known as a far-right, Christian nationalist group, was dismissed from the case on jurisdictional grounds. The Hayes’ estate previously dropped its claims against the Republican National Committee, National Rifle Association, and American Conservative Union.
