Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler threatened President Trump with a lawsuit on Wednesday (Aug 22) after he found out that he had been using the 1992 Aerosmith song “Livin’ On The Edge” during political rallies.
Trump’s use of his music came to Tyler’s attention after a rally in West Virginia on Tuesday night (Aug 21).
The scene in WV before Trump’s rally. Aerosmith’s “Livin’ on the edge” playing. pic.twitter.com/HW1qr9TBgE
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) August 21, 2018
It didn’t take long for Tyler and his lawyer Dina LaPolt to send Trump a cease and desist letter accusing Trump of “willful infringement in broadcasting the song.”
The letter cited the Lanham Act, which, according to Variety, “prohibits any false designation or misleading description or representation of fact … likely to cause confusion … as to the affiliation, connection, or association of such person with another person.”
For the majority of the day, as the news of the letter spread, Tyler stayed quiet – until now.
In all caps, Tyler took to Twitter to clarify why he hit the president with a cease and desist letter.
“This is not about Dems vs. Repub. I do not let anyone use my songs without my permission. My music is for causes not for political campaigns or rallies,” he wrote. “Protecting copyright and songwriters is what I’ve been fighting for even before this current administration took office.”
He continued in his next tweet, “This is one of the reasons why Joe Perry and I have been pushing the Senate to pass the Music Modernization Act. No is a complete sentence.”
THIS IS ONE OF THE REASONS WHY @JOEPERRY AND I HAVE BEEN PUSHING THE SENATE TO PASS THE MUSIC MODERNIZATION ACT.
NO IS A COMPLETE SENTENCE.
— Steven Tyler (@IamStevenT) August 22, 2018
Tyler has already told Trump, “No,” before in regards to his song “Dream On.” Trump was using it during his 2016 presidential campaign and the singer personally told the then-Republican candidate, “Donald, you can’t use ‘Dream On’ – that’s for causes…not campaigns.”
When Trump didn’t stop using the song, Tyler admitted, “I had to sue him!”
Let us know what you think about this whole situation. In the meantime, check out Aerosmith’s recent performance at the MTV VMAs below.