Singer-songwriter Kenny Loggins, talking on the NAMM (Nationwide Affiliation of Music Retailers) conference in Anaheim, Calif. in June 2022.
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Jerod Harris/Getty Pictures North America
Singer-songwriter Kenny Loggins is asking President Trump to take away the audio of considered one of his performances from a contentious AI-generated video which Trump posted on his Fact Social account on Saturday night.
Within the pretend video, a crown-wearing Trump is in a fighter jet emblazoned “KING TRUMP.” Accompanied by Loggins singing “Hazard Zone” – successful single from the 1986 film High Gun – the airplane dumps sludgy brown materials over crowds of protestors carrying American flags and indicators in what seems to be New York’s Occasions Sq..
The video was printed as an obvious reply to the widespread “No Kings” protests that passed off throughout the nation on Saturday. (On Saturday night, the official White Home account posted a pretend picture on Twitter of Trump and Vice President JD Vance sporting crowns, juxtaposed with a pretend picture of Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., in sombreros.)
In a press release despatched to NPR Monday morning, Loggins wrote: “That is an unauthorized use of my efficiency of ‘Hazard Zone.’ No one requested me for my permission, which I might have denied, and I request that my recording on this video is eliminated instantly.” (“Hazard Zone” was written by High Gun‘s rating composer, Giorgio Moroder, and songwriter Tom Whitlock, with Loggins because the performer.)
Loggins continued: “I am unable to think about why anyone would need their music used or related to one thing created with the only real function of dividing us. Too many individuals are attempting to tear us aside, and we have to discover new methods to return collectively. We’re all Individuals, and we’re all patriotic. There is no such thing as a ‘us and them’ – that is not who we’re, neither is it what we ought to be. It is all of us. We’re on this collectively, and it’s my hope that we will embrace music as a method of celebrating and uniting every considered one of us.”
There’s a lengthy historical past of musicians objecting to the present president (amongst different political leaders) utilizing their work to ship political messages . Nonetheless, such use is typically authorized, so long as rights holders are paid accurately; the one use that performers and songwriters can particularly prohibit is using songs in marketing campaign commercials. Even so, many artists select to make such objections public so {that a} normal viewers is conscious of their stance.
NPR reached out to the White Home for a response to Loggins’ particular objections, and his request that his efficiency be eliminated.
In reply, White Home spokesperson Davis R. Ingle didn’t reply to NPR’s questions, however despatched NPR a picture from the movie High Gun of stars Tom Cruise and the late Val Kilmer, captioned: “I FEEL THE NEED FOR SPEED.”
Varied musicians and their representatives, together with the White Stripes and the property of Isaac Hayes, have filed civil fits in opposition to Trump alleging copyright infringement. The White Stripes dropped their go well with in Nov. 2024. The Hayes go well with, which was filed in opposition to the president, his reelection marketing campaign and the activist group Turning Level Motion, is constant to wend its method via federal court docket in Atlanta.
