Neal Preston/© Queen Productions Ltd.On early Tuesday, Queen tweeted a brief message speaking out against Donald Trump‘s alleged “unauthorized use” of “We Are the Champions” at Monday night’s Republican National Convention, and now the band’s publishing company has issued a more-detailed statement on the matter.
“Sony/ATV Music Publishing has never been asked by Mr. Trump, the Trump campaign or the Trump Organization for permission to use ‘We Are the Champions’ by Queen,” the statement maintains. “On behalf of the band, we are frustrated by the repeated unauthorized use of the song after a previous request to desist, which has obviously been ignored by Mr. Trump and his campaign.”
The note continues, “Queen does not want its music associated with any mainstream or political debate in any country. Nor does Queen want ‘We Are the Champions’ to be used as an endorsement of Mr. Trump and the political views of the Republican Party.”
Sony/ATV concludes by saying, “We trust, hope and expect that Mr. Trump and his campaign will respect these wishes moving forward.”
However, Sean Spicer, the communications director for the Republican convention, tweeted a response to Queen’s initial post in which he claimed that the band was wrong and that the convention “paid to license the use of song in the arena.”
Legal experts tell ABC that if the Republican National Convention paid performing-rights organization BMI, which licenses “We Are the Champions,” it may have the right to play the song even over the band’s objections. However, it’s generally recommended that a party ask permission from the artist or copyright holder of a tune before using it.
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