A federal judge in Atlanta ruled Tuesday that Donald Trump and his campaign must stop using the song “Hold On, I’m Coming” while the family of one of the song’s co-writers pursues a lawsuit against the former president over its use.
The estate of Isaac Hayes Jr. filed a lawsuit last month alleging that Trump, his campaign and several of his allies had infringed its copyright and should pay damages. After a hearing on the estate’s request for an emergency preliminary injunction, U.S. District Judge Thomas Thrash ruled that Trump must stop using the song, but he denied a request to force the campaign to take down any existing videos that include the song.
Hayes, who died in 2008 at age 65, and David Porter co-wrote “Hold On, I’m Coming,” a 1966 hit for soul duo Sam and Dave.
Ronald Coleman, an attorney for Trump told reporters after the hearing that the campaign had already agreed not to use the song going forward: “The campaign has no interest in annoying or hurting anyone, and if the Hayes family feels that it hurts or annoys them, that’s fine, we’re not going to force the issue.”
Coleman said they were grateful that the judge agreed that it would be overstepping his power at this point in the litigation to order the campaign to take down existing videos.
