Leonard Cohen estate threatening legal action after Trump campaign uses Hallelujah

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Leonard Cohen’s estate is threatening legal action after Donald Trump’s re-election campaign twice used the Montreal musician’s Hallelujah during the President’s acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention last week.

In a statement, Mr. Cohen’s legal representative said the Republican National Committee or RNC had requested permission to play the song, which the estate rejected. But the RNC went ahead anyway.

“We are surprised and dismayed that the RNC would proceed knowing that the Cohen estate had specifically declined the RNC’s use request, and their rather brazen attempt to politicize and exploit in such an egregious manner Hallelujah, one of the most important songs in the Cohen song catalogue. We are exploring our legal options,” said Michelle Rice, a lawyer for Mr. Cohen’s estate.

“Had the RNC requested another song, You Want it Darker, for which Leonard won a posthumous Grammy in 2017, we might have considered approval of that song,” she added.

Brian Monaco, president of Sony/ATV Music Publishing, confirmed in a statement that the RNC had sought permission “on the eve of the finale of the convention” to stage a live performance of the song. Mr. Monaco said Sony had also “declined” the RNC’s request.

The RNC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The convention played a recorded cover version of the song by Tori Kelly right after Mr. Trump finished speaking at the White House Thursday evening, as fireworks overhead spelled out “Trump.” Opera singer Christopher Macchio then sang the song live from a White House balcony.

Mr. Trump’s 70-minute speech was largely focused on attacking anti-racism protesters, claiming that “mob rule” would take over the country if he failed to win re-election.

The President has a history of using popular songs without permission. Neil Young, the Rolling Stones and the estate of Tom Petty have also complained about Mr. Trump appropriating their work at campaign rallies.

Mr. Cohen died the day before the 2016 election. He was 82.

Some commentators pointed out that the mournful tone of Hallelujah was also a clanging juxtaposition to the mood Mr. Trump was trying to create. Its lyrics describe the biblical David as a “baffled king” and recount that the singer “did my best, it wasn’t much” but “it all went wrong” and that the only thing to be “learned from love was how to shoot somebody who outdrew you.”

“I don’t know who programmed the music for the grand fireworks finale of the Republican National Convention on Thursday night, but clearly they hadn’t listened to the words of Cohen’s signature song, which uses its gorgeous melody … to deliver some stark thoughts on the inevitable disappointment of being alive,” wrote Mikael Wood, a music critic for the Los Angeles Times.

Mr. Trump’s understanding of previous musical selections has been similarly questionable.

He has repeatedly played Mr. Young’s Rockin’ in the Free World at campaign events, including the launch of his first presidential bid in 2015. The song’s lyrics deride a previous Republican president, George H.W. Bush: “We got a thousand points of light for the homeless man/We got a kinder, gentler, machine gun hand.”

Mr. Young, a dual citizen of Canada and the United States who campaigned for Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary, took Mr. Trump’s campaign to court this year. His lawsuit describes the President’s re-election bid as “a divisive, un-American campaign of ignorance and hate.”

Mr. Trump also regularly used the Stones’ You Can’t Always Get What You Want as the closing music for his speeches for several years. In June, the band said it had repeatedly sent the President cease-and-desist notices, which he had ignored. The Stones and performing rights organization BMI said they were considering a lawsuit.

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