Iconic British rockers QUEEN have filed a copyright infringement notice over the unauthorized use of their song "We Will Rock You" in a Donald Trump campaign video. On October 9, Trump tweeted a clip of one of his rallies with QUEEN's classic 1977 song playing in the background. A band representative later confirmed to Buzzfeed News that the use was unauthorized and that QUEEN was in the process of stopping Trump from using any of its music. The video has since been removed from Twitter "in response to a report from the copyright holder." This is not the first time QUEEN and Trump have clashed over his unauthorized use of the band's music. More than three years ago, QUEEN slammed then-Republican presidential hopeful Trump for using the band's 1977 song "We Are The Champions" without permission. When Trump took the stage at the Republican National Convention in July 2016, he emerged in front of a blinding backdrop of white lights as a lectern rose from the floor. All the while, "We Are The Champions" could be heard throughout the arena. QUEEN's publishing company, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, later issued a statement disapproving of the song's use. Back in June 2016, QUEEN guitarist Brian May voiced his displeasure over Trump's use of "We Are The Champions". He wrote at the time: "I can confirm that permission to use the track was neither sought nor given. We are taking advice on what steps we can take to ensure this use does not continue. Regardless of our views on Mr. Trump's platform, it has always been against our policy to allow QUEEN music to be used as a political campaigning tool." In the "Letters" section of his site, May doubled down on his unfavorable opinion of QUEEN's association with the billionaire mogul. He wrote at the time: "We certainly have not approved this use of ['We Are the Champions']. I will make sure we take what steps we can to dissociate ourselves from Donald Trump's unsavoury campaign." May isn't the first rock musician to distance himself from Trump. TWISTED SISTER singer Dee Snider revealed that he asked Trump to stop using the band's signature anthem "We're Not Gonna Take It" as the "exit song" at the politician's campaign stops, explaining that he couldn't "get behind a lot of what [Trump is] saying." Earlier this month, Trump tweeted a photograph of presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son golfing with a Ukranian gas executive — superimposed into NICKELBACK's video for "Photograph". Within a day, the band got the meme removed. According to The New York Times, Warner Music Group flagged Twitter about the issue. Twitter users went on the social media giant to react to the meme. One Twitter user wrote, "Trump got owned by NICKELBACK as the entire world laughs. If that's not worthy of impeachment, I don't know what is." Another wrote, "As I predicted, @realDonaldTrump appears to be the first American President to be dissed by @Nickelback."
Don’t expect this video — which uses Queen’s “We Will Rock You” in its entirety — to remain up for long.
A rep for Queen told me tonight that the band “has already entered into a process to call for non use of Queen song copyrights by the Trump campaign. This is ongoing.” https://t.co/VTLRnLx87p — Adam B. Vary Scary (@adambvary) October 10, 2019
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Don’t expect this video — which uses Queen’s “We Will Rock You” in its entirety — to remain up for long.
A rep for Queen told me tonight that the band “has already entered into a process to call for non use of Queen song copyrights by the Trump campaign. This is ongoing.” https://t.co/VTLRnLx87p — Adam B. Vary Scary (@adambvary) October 10, 2019
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