Neil Young Files $10 Million Suit Against Trump for Using ‘Rockin’ in the Free World,’ Six Years After a Prior Settlement Over the Same Song

Oct 26, 2026 4:50pm PT Neil Young Files $10 Million Suit Against Trump for Using ‘Rockin’ in the Free World,’ Six Years After a Prior Settlement Over the Same Song

By Chris Willman

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Chris Willman

Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic

ChrisWillman

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Neil Young has filed a $10 million lawsuit Monday against Donald J. Trump‘s political action committee, Trump 47 Committee Inc., alleging copyright infringement for the ongoing use of Young’s song “Rockin’ in the Free World” as the president’s walkup music at midterm election rallies.

If it feels like (to quote a Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young song) “we have all been here before,” the deja vu comes from the fact that this is Young’s second time filing suit against Trump over his unlicensed appropriation of “Rockin’ in the Free World.” The first was in 2020, and that lawsuit was settled, only for Trump to continue to play it again now, in violation of the agreed-upon terms of the prior settlement, according to Young’s suit.

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