Neil Young sues the Trump 47 Committee for $10 million over "Rockin' in the Free World" at an Ohio rally

Neil Young has gone back to court over "Rockin' in the Free World". The singer-songwriter filed a copyright infringement suit on Monday, 26 October 2026, in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, naming the Trump 47 Committee as defendant and asking for $10 million in damages.

What the complaint says

The filing says the song was played without a licence before Donald Trump spoke at a midterm election rally in Youngstown, Ohio, on 12 October 2026. Young is also asking the court for an order barring the committee from using his music in future.

The complaint argues that the song stands against everything Trump represents, a line it makes in its own words. As of publication, ADMC has seen no public response to the suit from the committee, and no hearing date has been set.

A song with a long history in this fight

This is not the first time. Trump used "Rockin' in the Free World" when he launched his presidential campaign at Trump Tower in June 2015, and Young objected publicly; the campaign then said it would stop.

In 2020 Young sued Trump's re-election campaign over its use of that song and "Devil's Sidewalk" at campaign events. According to the new complaint, that case ended after the campaign agreed not to use "Rockin' in the Free World" again without a licence. The new suit argues that promise was broken.

Why it matters beyond one song

Artists objecting to politicians playing their music at rallies is an old story, but the legal route matters here. Playing a recording publicly needs a licence, and venues often hold blanket licences that cover only the venue, not a campaign's own use. Young's complaint turns on there being no licence at all for this event.

Under federal rules, a defendant normally has 21 days after being served to answer or challenge a complaint, so the first formal reply is likely to come in the coming weeks. We will update this story when there is one.

Young is a Canadian-born musician with a catalogue stretching back to the 1960s, and his artist page collects our coverage of him. "Rockin' in the Free World" came out in 1989 and has been among his best-known songs ever since.