The estate of late singer-songwriter Isaac Hayes is moving forward with a complaint filed against Donald Trump and entities tethered to his reelection efforts over the unauthorized use of a song co-written by the artist.

As Friday (Aug. 16) drew to a close, Isaac Hayes III, son of the revered musician, tweeted that a copyright infringement complaint had been filed in the Northern District of Georgia. Attorney James L. Walker, Jr., identified Trump, the Donald J. Trump for President campaign, the Republican National Committee, Turning Point USA, the National Rifle Association of America, and two other organizations as defendants associated with the offense.

The convicted felon, the RNC, and his campaign were notified on Aug. 11 that continued use of the 1996 song, “Hold On, I’m Coming,” was representative of them “willfully and brazenly engaged in copyright infringement” despite being repeatedly asked not to do so.

They were given an Aug. 16 deadline to cease and desist any use of the song, remove all videos featuring the song, release an official statement by the Trump campaign acknowledging that the singer’s estate did not authorize the use of his song nor endorse the politician, and pay the discounted $3,000,000 licensing fee. As expressed in the notice, “The normal fee for these infringements will be 10 times as much if we litigate, starting at $150,000 per use.”

Hayes III appeared on CNN’s “First of All With Victor Blackwell” on Saturday (Aug. 17), where he and Walker discussed their pursuit of a judge’s permanent injunction to put an end to the song’s use by Trump and affiliates. According to Hayes III, the song has been used at least 134 times since May 2022, when the former president was first notified that he was not authorized to use the iconic record.

The Fanbase co-founder and CEO said Trump used the classic soul record as recently as last week during a rally as his exit theme song. Walker further stated that a member of the Trump organization previously claimed they were given a license to utilize the track but failed to produce the alleged proof.

“I don’t want that song associated with Donald Trump. I don’t want people to hear ‘Hold On, I’m Coming’ and think of Donald Trump because of the nature of the character of the person that he is,” said the 3x Grammy Award-winning artist’s son. He said the legal recourse is not politically motivated; instead, it is an effort to preserve his father’s legacy, noting that the former commander-in-chief’s behavior is not that of which Hayes, Jr., would have supported.

“I’m the brother to seven sisters, seven Black women. Donald Trump has been found liable of sexual abuse, he says horrible things about women, he says horrible things about Vice President Kamala Harris, and I know my father would not want Donald Trump or a man that speaks like that, especially about Black women, using his music to run a campaign,” said the businessman. “It’s more to do with the fact of the individual, the character of Donald Trump, that we don’t want associated with our brand and our family,” he added.

“The Apprentice” star was found liable of defaming and sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll, an advice columnist, in May 2023 and was ordered to pay $5 million in damages. In November 2022, months prior to the ruling, he announced his third bid to assume the nation’s highest office amid a probe into widespread belief that he incited the January 6, 2020, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

This past May, a grand jury convicted him of 34 felonies stemming from a hush money scheme to prevent adult film star Stormy Daniels from coming forward about their sexual encounters during his 2016 run for office.