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,” attorney Howard King wrote in the letter to Trump. “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.
Pharrell Williams’ attorney has issued a cease-and-desist letter to Donald Trump after the U.S. President used the singer’s track Happy at a rally on Saturday.
Trump played Pharrell’s upbeat track during a rally in Indiana on Saturday, hours after 11 people were killed when a gunman opened fire at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The musician’s legal team has now issued a letter to express their anger at its use and are threatening to pursue legal action if he uses it again.
FILE – In this Feb. 26, 2017, file photo, Pharrell Williams arrives at the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)
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,” attorney Howard King wrote in the letter to Trump. “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.
The lawyer continues to state that Pharrell will not grant the leader permission to publicly use his music, and claims using the 2013 track without his consent constitutes both copyright and trademark infringement.
