Isaac Hayes’ Estate Wins Injunction Against Trump Over “Hold On, I’m Coming”

A federal court in Atlanta granted Isaac Hayes’ estate a preliminary injunction against Donald Trump, barring the former president from playing Hayes’ song “Hold On, I’m Coming” at rallies and other campaign events.

Federal Judge Thomas Thrash Jr. made his ruling during a hearing in Atlanta on Tuesday, September 3rd.

Hayes’ estate is suing Trump for $3 million after allegedly finding 134 instances where the former president used “Hold On, I’m Coming” at campaign rallies without permission.

In the lead up to today’s hearing, Hayes’ estate received written confirmation from BMI — the organization that administers licensing rights — that Trump’s campaign did not have a political use license to play “Hold One I’m Coming” since November 30th, 2022.

Political campaigns obtain a “political entities license” from organizations such as BMI or ASCAP in order to play music during rallies and other official events. However, artists have the ability to pull their music from these licenses.

Hayes’ estate asserts that it withdrew its licensing rights once Trump started using “Hold On, I’m Coming” at his rallies in 2020. Despite this, Trump allegedly continued to play the song, leading the estate to claim he is liable for a $150,000 fine for each instance, amounting to a total of $3 million.

The preliminary injunction forbids Trump from playing the song until the civil trial gets under way next year.

“We are very grateful and happy for the decision,” Hayes’ son, Isaac Hayes III, said during a press conference following Tuesday’s ruling. “Donald Trump has been barred from ever playing the music of Isaac Hayes again. I couldn’t ask for a better decision. I want this to serve as an opportunity for other artists to come forward that don’t want their music used by Donald Trump or other political entities.”

Today our family was granted an injunction against @realdonaldtrump from playing @IsaacHayes3 music ever again. We are please with the decision by the court and move to the next phase of this lawsuit.

I wanna thank @jameslwalkeresq @Lizgarnergroup and team for their hard work… pic.twitter.com/3evIfSe5Yq

— Isaac Hayes III (@IsaacHayes3) September 3, 2024