Donald Trump Did Not Have Permission To Use Neil Young's Song For His Campaign

Yet it seems the "Apprentice" star did not have permission to use Young's famous American ballad, and that the rock star was not too happy about it.

Young's manager, Elliot Roberts, released a statement saying that Young would in fact be supporting self-described democratic-socialist candidate Bernie Sanders:

Donald Trump was not authorized to use "Rockin' In The Free World" in his presidential candidacy announcement. Neil Young, a Canadian citizen, is a supporter of Bernie Sanders for President of the United States of America.

In response, the Trump campaign reportedly insisted Young's marketing group, ASCAP, agree to a licensing deal so the song could be used legally.

Though on ASCAP's website, the company specifies a different set of rules for the use of music in political campaigns, stating that the "campaign will need to contact the song's publisher and possibly the artist's record label to negotiate the appropriate licenses with them."

ASCAP also specifies that if the campaign does not abide by these rules and the artist does not want their music associated with the candidate's politics, they can take legal action against the candidate.

This would not be the first time a presidential candidate used an artist's song without their permission, and wouldn't be the first time one was sued for it.

Rapper K'Naan threatened to sue Mitt Romney for unauthorized use of his song "Wavin' Flag" in 2012, NPR pointed out. And Bruce Springsteen did the same to Ronald Reagan over "Born in the U.S.A." While the band Heart was incensed over Sarah Palin's use of their hit "Barracuda" at the Republican convention in 2008.

And these are only a few examples.