Guyanese international musician Eddy Grant has come out victorious in the first stage of a lawsuit he has initiated against former US President Donald Trump over the unauthorised use of his popular song ‘Electric Avenue.’
United States District Judge John G. Koeltl on Tuesday denied the former’s president’s application to have the case dismissed.
Grant through his lawyers launched the copyright infringement action over Trump’s unauthorised use of his music in an animated video. While the video, which contained some 40 seconds of Grant’s 1983 hit song, was created by a third party during the 2020 presidential election campaign, it was posted by Trump on his personal Twitter account. The video, which was tweeted by Trump on August 12, 2020, endorsed him for presidential reelection and sought to denigrate the Democratic nominee, now President Joseph R. Biden.