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Since then, Grant has remained the owner of that sound recording copyright, which his lawyers say covers all 16 songs on the album, including “Electric Avenue” — a song even the judge, US District Judge John G. Koeltl, has noted is “recognizable” and “catchy.”
A last-minute registration
Dueling court filings indicate the two sides will argue on Friday over whether Grant’s copyright covers only the album itself (as Trump’s side says) or if it covers every song on the album individually (as Grant’s side says.)
Trump’s side may argue that even Grant has tacitly acknowledged that the sound-recording copyright for “Electric Avenue” was never properly nailed down. Two weeks ago, on August 15, Grant applied to the US Copyright Office “for a sound-recording copyright registration of Electric Avenue.”
“Plaintiffs have requested expedited handling of the application and expect to have the registration number available for the Court before the scheduled oral argument,” on Friday, Grant attorney Brett Van Benthysen told the judge in an August 16 court filing.
Meanwhile, no trial date is in sight.
The case has dragged on through four years of pandemic delays, attorney switch-ups, and extensive and ultimately failed settlement negotiations.
Trump was deposed in the case in April of 2022. So, too, was his former social-media director, Dan Scavino, who court records show fought his deposition subpoena before eventually submitting to questions about his role in posting the tweet.
And Grant has been deposed by Trump’s lawyers, who asked the artist to “explain” the song. “Do I have to?” Grant responded, according to a transcript excerpt. “That sounds like a trick question,” he said.
An eventual trial will likely center on whether the song’s inclusion in the cartoon was an allowable “fair use” of the work under copyright law, which allows works of art to be transformed or excerpted under limited circumstances.
The sides will also battle over how much, if at all, the dollar value of “Electric Avenue” was impacted by its appearance in Trump’s Twitter feed.
A lawyer for Trump did not respond to requests for comment on this story. A lawyer for Grant, Brett Van Benthysen, declined to comment.