Sept. 30 (UPI) — Musician JMSN is demanding that the Trump administration immediately stop using his music in campaign-style television advertisements after his song Love Me was featured in a recently aired ad promoting President Donald Trump ahead of November’s midterm elections.
Attorneys for JMSN, whose real name is Christian Berishaj, sent a cease-and-desist letter to White House Chief of Staff Susan Wiles on Monday night demanding that it stop using his song. The attorneys said the use of JMSN’s music in the ad also raises legal questions over taxpayer funds being used for campaign-style advertising.
According to the letter, the Trump administration used Love Me in an ad titled The Country He Loves without a synchronization license, a master-use license or any other authorization from JMSN.
The letter states that no authorization would have been granted if the Trump administration had requested one.
“JMSN owns the copyright in both the musical composition of the song, as well as the sound recording of it. These copyrighted works may not be used for any purpose without his prior consent,” the letter states. “You neither requested nor received such permission.”
Represented by Democracy Defenders Action and Ballard Spahr LLP, JMSN, through his lawyers, said the portion of the song excerpted for the advertisement was “the heart of the copyrighted works” and the government’s use of it “will have a negative effect on JMSN’s ability to license the song, and others, in the future.”
“To be absolutely clear, JMSN does not want to be viewed as directly or indirectly affiliated with the president or his administration,” his lawyers said in the letter.
The Trump administration began airing the taxpayer-funded ads last week, attracting criticism over the use of taxpayer money to fund what critics describe as government propaganda. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I, and Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., compared the ad to propaganda one might expect from North Korea.
“It is an egregious and illegal misuse of Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars,” the lawmakers told the White House last week in a letter, demanding that it immediately take the ad off the air.
“The law is not complicated. You cannot use taxpayer dollars for political advertisements.”
As of early Wednesday, the 15-second version of the ad featuring the JMSN song was still up on the White House’s YouTube account. In the ad, Trump is heard in voiceover stating declaring that the United States will never be a communist country as images of him appear on the screen and JMSN’s song plays.
The White House has rejected the criticism of the ads, describing them as “public service announcements.”
“The announcements are very clearly not campaign ads; President Trump is not on the ballot and there is no call to action,” the White House said in a Friday statement. Though Trump is not on the ballot, he has repeatedly told Republicans to vote as if he were.
“The announcements are a reminder for Americans to love their country and know why it’s worth defending — at home, at the border and abroad. That’s not partisanship — that’s a government that still believes in the country it serves.”
JMSN’s attorneys have given the White House until 5 pm. EDT Thursday to confirm that it has ceased “its infringing activities.”
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