It may be a "Free World," Mr. Trump, but you can still get sued

Marissa Brent-Tookey

Marissa Brent-Tookey Jul 14, 2025

Feb 6, 2018

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                <h1>It may be a "Free World," Mr. Trump, but you can still get sued</h1>
                <h2><p>Donald Trump just joined the crowd of Republican presidential candidates, and simultaneously joined the misappropriation-of-music club, whose membership includes Ronald Reagan, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich (British group The Heavy didn't like Gingrich at all when he played its "How You Like Me Now" during his</p></h2>
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               <p>By <a href="/author/marissa-brent-tookey-crosscut-com/">Marissa Brent-Tookey</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Feb 6, 2018</time></p>
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            <figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://www.cascadepbs.org/sites/default/files/images/article/gallery/Donald_Trump.jpg" class="kg-image" alt="Donald_Trump.jpg" loading="lazy" width="247" height="300"></figure><p>Donald Trump just <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/top-10-actual-things-donald-trump-2016-presidential/story?id=31807460&ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">joined the crowd of Republican presidential candidates</a>, and simultaneously joined the misappropriation-of-music club, whose membership includes Ronald Reagan, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich (British group The Heavy didn't like Gingrich at all when he played its "How You Like Me Now" during his 2012 campaign).</p><p>Trump announced his candidacy accompanied by Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World" on repeat. <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/06/17/415158962/neil-young-is-displeased-that-donald-trump-was-rockin-in-the-free-world?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">According to NPR</a>, The musician's manager released a statement saying that Trump did not have permission to use the song. Besides, manager said, "Neil Young, a Canadian citizen, is a supporter of Bernie Sanders for President of the United States of America." Trump just got trumped.</p>
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Donald Trump just joined the crowd of Republican presidential candidates, and simultaneously joined the misappropriation-of-music club, whose membership includes Ronald Reagan, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich (British group The Heavy didn't like Gingrich at all when he played its "How You Like Me Now" during his 2012 campaign).

Trump announced his candidacy accompanied by Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World" on repeat. According to NPR, The musician's manager released a statement saying that Trump did not have permission to use the song. Besides, manager said, "Neil Young, a Canadian citizen, is a supporter of Bernie Sanders for President of the United States of America." Trump just got trumped.

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By Marissa Brent-Tookey

Marissa Brent-Tookey is an editorial intern at Crosscut. She holds a B.A. in French from Seattle University and now studies film production at Shoreline Community College. In addition to crewing a doz