Twitter removes video from Trump tweet after ‘Electric Avenue’ copyright complaint

Twitter removed a video from a mid-August tweet by President Trump that featured Eddy Grant’s hit song “Electric Avenue” after the musician sued the president’s reelection campaign on Tuesday, claiming copyright infringement.

The tweet from Aug. 12 depicted Democratic candidate Joe Biden pushing a hand-powered cart down a railway while a train featuring the Trump campaign’s logo speeds away into the distance. Grant’s song played during the ad in the background.

As of Tuesday evening, the captionless tweet showed only an image indicating that the video had been removed.

pic.twitter.com/36b2xC1GZf

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 13, 2020

A Twitter spokesperson confirmed to The Hill that the video had been removed over Grant’s copyright claim.

“Per our copyright policy, we respond to valid copyright complaints sent to us by a copyright owner or their authorized representatives,” said the spokesperson.

The Trump campaign did not return a request for comment from The Hill about Grant’s lawsuit.

“I call upon such arbiter, as is responsible for this sordid abuse, to come forward like a man and let’s sort this thing out, in the way that America demands when such issues are to be sorted, especially when they are wrong,” Grant said in a statement.

“If you know my client’s reputation, then you know that this Infringing Use in connection with the name Trump in a political context is a serious transgression,” added his attorney, who filed the complaint in New York court Tuesday.

Grant’s complaint follows a similar allegation from musician Neil Young in early August claiming that the campaign played his music without consent.