Having lost the legal arguments over the election result, Donald Trump has now been dealt another blow in court. The ex-president has lost his attempt to dismiss a copyright lawsuit stemming from an animated campaign video that used Eddy Grant’s 1983 song “Electric Avenue.” U.S. District Court Judge John Koeltl issued the decision last week.
What was the video? On August 12, 2020, Trump tweeted a minute-long cg video created by Texas-based animator Something Wicked. It showed a slick train, representing the Trump campaign, speeding by as a slow handcar, manually operated by Biden, trundles behind. “Electric Avenue” plays on the soundtrack alongside a snippet of a speech by Biden.
How did Grant react? The day after Trump shared the video, the singer sent Trump a cease-and-desist order, claiming copyright infringement. As the tweet stayed up, Grant’s lawyers filed a suit against the then-president’s campaign weeks later. Twitter also removed Trump’s tweet.