Linkin Park Issues Notice Against Donald Trump
On Sunday, July 18, 2020, Twitter took down a video that was re-tweeted by Donald Trump after Linkin Park flagged the video for using their music. White House Social Media Director, Dan Scavino, first posted the tweet as part of Trump’s presidential campaign.
The Presidential campaign’s video features the band’s hit song, ‘In The End.’. Linkin Park issued a “cease and desist” against Donald Trump for using the track without taking permission from the band. Fans were quick to point out and joke about the contradiction of track’s lyrics to the goal of the campaign. The chorus of the song has the lyrics “I tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it doesn’t even matter!”
While this may clearly contradict Mr. Trump’s campaign intentions Twitter did the US President no favours by taking down the post. To make matters worse, the post still appears on people’s feeds however with a message.
The management company which handles Linkin Park, Machine Shop Entertainment formally issued the Digital Millennium Copyright Act takedown notice against the video under the U.S.’s Digital Millennium Copyright Act law.
Even though the “In the End” version was a cover by Tommee Profitt, Fleurie and Jung Youth, it was still flagged. It wasn’t just Linkin Park members who voiced their emotions, Jung Youth tweeted, “Earlier today I found out that trump illegally used a cover song that I am part of in a propaganda video which he tweeted…anyone who knows me knows I stand firmly against bigotry and racism.”
Linkin Park has also appreciated the efforts of its fans on Twitter to help take down the video. Members of Linkin Park, John Hahn, and Mike Shinoda have been vocal about their views against Donald Trump. Chester Bennington, the group’s late singer, was not a fan of President Trump either. In 2017, he tweeted “Trump is a greater threat to the USA than terrorism!! We have to take back our voices and stand for what we believe in.”
Linkin Park is not the first band to turn on Trump using their records in his promotion. Legends like Queen, Rihanna, Pharell Williams, Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones, and Adele are few of the other artists. They have acted against Trump and few have even gone to the extent of threatening the President with a lawsuit!
Luckily for Trump, for now, it is only the music community that’s turning on him. Well, with a year like this, we can’t wait to see who’s going to be left by his side.
By: Aatira Kakroo
