The Seven Nations Army is apparently retreating.
In the wake of the 2024 presidential election, the White Stripes dropped their copyright infringement lawsuit against Donald Trump’s campaign for using their signature song without their permission.
Lawyers for the Grammy-winning rock duo filed legal documents in New York federal court to voluntarily dismiss the suit. No reason was given in the one-sentence motion. Representatives for Jack and Meg White – who disbanded the group in 2011 – also have not commented on the decision to end the litigation.
According to Billboard, the motion was filed “without prejudice,” meaning the case can be refiled at some point in the future.
Last Wednesday, Jack White did not mince his words in expressing his contempt for the outcome of a polarizing political race.
“Trump won the popular vote. End of story,” he wrote on Instagram. “Americans chose a notorious and obvious fascist and now America will get whatever this wannabe dictator wants to adopt from now on.”
White threatened Trump with legal action on August 28 after the Republican presidential campaign allegedly used a riff from “Seven Nation Army” in a promotional video posted to social media.
The 2003 chart-topping track’s opening was the backdrop to a music video in which the 78-year-old MAGA candidate was seen boarding a plane during the election campaign, as he was traveling to Michigan and Wisconsin.
In the lawsuit, the White Stripes objected not only to the “blatant misappropriation” of their work, but also to the implication of their support for the 34-times convicted crime, whose policies and actions they “vehemently oppose.” .
The group’s public defiance of Trump has come amid a growing number of musicians — including Beyoncé, the Rolling Stones, Celine Dion, Abba and the estate of Isaac Hayes — who have filed a lawsuit against his campaign for using their music without permission.
