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A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11The Trump campaign said it had a license to play Foo Fighters’ “My Hero” at a 2024 Arizona rally. Foo Fighters said the band had not been asked and would not have granted permission. The available reporting and BMI materials do not establish whether that particular performance was covered by the campaign’s license or whether a work-specific exclusion applied.
What happened at the Arizona rally?
On Aug. 23, 2024, “My Hero” played as Donald Trump welcomed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. onstage at a rally in Arizona, after Kennedy suspended his independent campaign and endorsed Trump. CBS News reported the performance.
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What did the campaign and Foo Fighters say?
A Trump campaign spokesperson told Rolling Stone, “We have a license to play the song.” Rolling Stone reported the campaign’s claim on Aug. 27, 2024. The Independent reported two days earlier that it had seen documents that appeared to confirm the campaign had licensed the song from BMI Songview; that report did not establish that the specific performance had been adjudicated as covered by the license. The Independent’s account also quoted the campaign spokesperson.
Foo Fighters disputed any suggestion that the band had approved the use. A spokesperson told CBS News on Aug. 24, 2024: “Foo Fighters were not asked permission and if they were, they would have not granted it.” The spokesperson said any royalties the band received from the use would be donated to the Kamala Harris and Tim Walz campaign. The band’s official X account also replied “No” when asked whether it had let Trump use the song, CBS reported.
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Can a campaign play a song without the artist’s approval?
Potentially, a political campaign may rely on a public-performance license for music at an event without obtaining the performing artist’s personal approval for each song. BMI’s Political Entities guidance says its license covers public performances of works in its repertoire at events and functions hosted by political campaigns and organizations. It also says BMI can exclude a work if a songwriter or publisher objects, and notify the licensee that the work is no longer authorized under the BMI license. BMI’s political-entity licensing guidance describes that scope and exclusion process.
That general framework does not settle the “My Hero” dispute. The available sources do not provide the campaign’s complete license or a contemporaneous record showing whether the song had been excluded when it played. The campaign’s assertion of a license is not proof that Foo Fighters personally approved the performance; the band’s objection, in turn, does not by itself prove that the event use was legally unauthorized.
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Does a rally music license cover campaign videos?
Not necessarily. A public performance at a live event and the use of music synchronized with images in a campaign video are different uses. BMI’s posted agreement grants public-performance rights, not blanket clearance for every copyright use. It says a licensee may need additional rights, including synchronization, master-use and mechanical rights, particularly if a work is used repeatedly or becomes associated with a campaign as a theme song. BMI’s Music Performance License Agreement sets out those limits. BMI explains that synchronization licensing concerns matching a musical composition to audiovisual images, while the sound recording has a separate copyright.
The Washington Post likewise distinguished event performance licensing from audiovisual use in its 2024 explanation of campaign music disputes. Its report on campaign music and copyright supports treating a rally license and video clearance as separate questions. A campaign considering a video may need permission from the relevant composition rights holders and the owner of the particular recording; an event-performance license alone should not be assumed to cover that use.
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