Pharrell Williams is currently not happy with President Trump. The producer’s lawyer, Howard King, called out President Trump for using Williams’ massively popular song “Happy” from the Despicable Me 3 animated film’s soundtrack. A cease and desist letter was sent on Monday, with King issuing a statement regarding Trump playing the song at a rally hours after a man shot and killed 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue.
King stated On the day of the mass murder of 11 human beings at the hands of a deranged ‘nationalist,’ you played his song ‘Happy’ to a crowd at a political event in Indiana,” King continues to say “There was nothing ‘happy’ about the tragedy inflicted upon our country on Saturday and no permission was granted for your use of this song for this purpose.” According to CNN, King also mentions that using the song without consent is a copyright and trademark infringement.
Other musicians have also created cease and desist letters for the president to not use their music including The O’Jays, Adele, Queen and most recently Aerosmith. Frontman Steven Tyler sent a cease and desist letter to Trump after finding out that Trump was using the band’s song “Livin’ On The Edge” at President Trump’s rally in West Virginia without the permission of the band. Tyler stated that the reason for the letter was not for political reasons, it was simply because of playing it without permission and protecting the creative work of musicians as Tyler is pushing for the Music Modernization Act. The act will protect musicians against lewd streaming deals and creative rights if voted in.
Photo Credit: Sharon Alagna
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