Village People's Legal Warning to Trump Revives Music in Politics Questions

It's early in the 2024 election cycle, but questions are already being raised about the music politicians associate with their campaigns.

Earlier this month, the disco group Village People sent former President Donald Trump a cease-and-desist letter contesting a recent performance of one of their songs, "Macho Man," at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. In the letter sent by band manager Karen Willis, Village People alleged Trump "allowed a group of individuals dressed as Village People" to perform that song and others. Videos of the performance began spreading on social media, leading some to "mistakenly believe" that the group itself performed at the event, the letter said.

Village People alleged the "imitation performance" violated U.S. trademark law and asked Trump's campaign to stop using the band's image moving forward. If the campaign did not oblige, the band said it would pursue legal action.

Trump's 2024 presidential campaign did not respond to Newsweek's emailed request for comment.

News of Village People's letter was quickly picked up by media outlets around the country, most of which mentioned the dozens of artists—including Village People—who previously objected to Trump's use of their music. Several artists, including Neil Young, Adele, Rihanna and Elton John, asked Trump during his 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns to stop playing their music at campaign events. Some objected because their political views opposed those held by Trump; others said their music simply had no place in American politics.

Political Campaigns Have Used Popular Music for Centuries

Trump has received a long list of musicians' complaints, but these kinds of objections date back decades and include politicians on both sides of the aisle. Bruce Springsteen's opposition to Ronald Reagan's use of "Born in the U.S.A." during Reagan's 1984 presidential campaign serves as the first highly publicized example. More recently, Sam Moore of Sam & Dave asked former President Barack Obama's campaign to stop using "Hold On, I'm Comin'" at political rallies, and Cyndi Lauper publicly disapproved of the use of her song "True Colors" in an attack ad targeting Republican Mitt Romney during his 2012 presidential campaign.

Even so, Republicans tend to get these complaints more often than Democrats. This is likely because the music industry generally embraces left-leaning values more than right-leaning values, according to Dana Gorzelany-Mostak, an associate professor of music and founder of the Trax on the Trail research project at Georgia College. "Artists may be less likely to object to a politician using their music if they share the same political views," she told Newsweek.

Music is important to political campaigns because it helps candidates to "constitute their identity in sound and to assert their brand on a sonic register, offering insight into their character, their beliefs, and their values," said Gorzelany-Mostak, who has a book on this subject, called Tracks on the Trail: Popular Music, Race, and the US Presidency, coming out later this year. Candidates who play well-known songs can "spread particular points of view" and "build solidarity" among constituents, according to the Library of Congress, which details nearly two centuries of popular music use by political campaigns on its website.

Historically, campaigns often picked one song to represent a politician's message. Now, Gorzelany-Mostak said politicians rely more on playlists.

"The playlist strategy offers more flexibility for the candidate as they can maintain a more expansive and heterogeneous signature soundtrack and change up their selections depending on factors such as context, venue, geographic region, and audience," Gorzelany-Mostak said. "If an artist objects, candidates can simply turn to another song on their playlist."

The Legal Steps for Political Campaigns

So what exactly is required to ensure the songs on those playlists are being used legally? Legal experts told Newsweek it's a fairly straightforward process. In most cases, a political campaign doesn't have to ask a musician's permission directly to use their music—the campaign gets that permission by securing public performance licenses obtained through performing rights organizations (PROs), such as the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers (SESAC), or Global Music Rights (GMR). Venues that frequently host public events often have blanket public performance licenses already in place, according to Alexandra Mayo, an associate attorney at Morris Music Law.

After obtaining a public performance license, a political campaign should make sure the license covers the exact songs they want to play, according to Keith Kupferschmid, the CEO of the nonprofit Copyright Alliance. The campaign should also make sure the license specifically allows music use at political events. "It is important to understand, that many, if not all of the PROs have a separate performance license for political uses," Kupferschmid told Newsweek.

Musicians' Options for Contesting Song Use

Public performance licenses cover a lot of music. Artists use PROs to make sure they get paid when their songs are used, and not all who sign up realize their music could be used at political events, according to Mayo, though she said awareness seems to be growing.

In some instances, Mayo said musicians have opportunities to opt out from having their music used at political events. But for the most part, Kupferschmid said musicians "generally have no legal recourse" if their music is covered by the licenses political campaigns obtain. Those licenses "will control and could limit the time period or the way in which the music is being used," he added. "If the politician uses the music in a way that violates those contract terms, the musician may have legal recourse."

Musicians may have more chances to object when it comes to campaign videos or ads posted on social media, Mayo said. When these videos or ads include a song without first getting the artist's permission, the platform itself often removes the content due to copyright concerns.

The public performance licenses that most artists sign up for explain why there's not much many musicians can do when they want a political campaign to stop playing their music. Public outcry also plays a role, with fan backlash often outweighing potential gains to keeping certain songs in rotation.

Trend Likely to Continue Into 2024 Election Cycle

Heading into the 2024 election cycle, Mayo said it's "possible" the American public will see more musicians contesting political campaigns' use of their music. Those musicians may have legal recourse when campaigns don't secure the licenses they need, she said, but they might not need to take legal action if public outcry is loud enough that campaigns make playlist changes on their own.

Then again, that disruption can be useful to some politicians. Such is the case with Trump, who "has repeatedly positioned himself as an outsider, game changer, rule breaker, maverick, and 'deplorable,' not just through speeches and policy-making, but through creating and inciting a certain kind of noise," according to Gorzelany-Mostak. Cease-and-desist letters sent by musicians to Trump plays into this "noise," she added.

"While his detractors may hear such noise as a weapon of mass distraction, indeed it is music to the ears of his supporters," she said. "With his continuous usage of artists' music despite their objections, he asserts his defiance through sound as he also claims authority over the artists' creative work which he expropriates to meet his own political end. And his supporters love him for it."

Village People founding member Victor Willis and his wife, band manager Karen Willis, denied Newsweek's request for an interview about the band's cease-and-desist letter.

Disclaimer from Morris Music Law: This information is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as legal advice for any individual case or situation; and please do not consider this information to be a substitute for obtaining legal advice from a qualified attorney licensed in the jurisdiction(s) relevant to your matter.