Village People hit out at lookalike performance at Donald Trump event

completemusicupdate.com:

Donald Trump has annoyed the Village People again, this time by hosting a party at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida which featured a group of men dressed up like the legendary disco group and performing their hits.The former President has regularly made use of Village People songs ‘YMCA’ and ‘Macho Man’ at his political events, of course.

The group – and especially founder member and lead singer Victor Willis – have been very clear throughout that they really wish he wouldn’t.When it comes to copyright matters, political rallies and other events staged by Trump usually rely on blanket licences issued by the music industry’s collecting societies.And while there is a specific licence for overtly political events that provides some opt-outs for songwriters, it’s difficult for artists to stop the likes of Trump from using their music outright by simply enforcing copyright law.It’s a little more clear cut if music is used by politicians without permission in campaign videos, and Village People label Scorpio Music did threaten legal action after Trump shared a video made by a third party that featured the group’s music.

But with music used at events, things remain tricky.Artists can still send cease and desist notices – or even just polite letters simply requesting that a politician doesn’t use their music – or they can moan about it on social media, perhaps in the hope that that will cause a backlash which will stop the politicians from playing their songs at their events.But none of that worked for Willis and the Village People.

Back in early 2021 they were hoping that Trump leaving the White House might solve the problem.They told Billboard at the time: “We have no ill will towards the President, but we asked him to cease.