Adele says Donald Trump can't play her songs - she's not the first

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adeleImage source, Getty Images

Adele says Donald Trump doesn't have permission to use her songs at campaign rallies.

The Republican presidential candidate, whose slogan is "Make America great again", has been using Rolling In The Deep as "warm-up" music.

"Adele has not given permission for her music to be used for any political campaigning," her spokesman confirmed.

This isn't the first time a politician has been criticised for using pop songs during their campaign.

Foo Fighters vs John McCain

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As an Obama supporter, Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl wasn't keen on Republican John McClain using the Foos' 1998 single My Hero during his 2008 presidential run.

"It's frustrating and infuriating that someone who claims to speak for the American people would repeatedly show such little respect for creativity and intellectual property," the band said in a statement, referring to other instances when McCain used songs against the artists' wishes.

A spokesman for McCain said the "campaign respects copyright," adding appropriate fees had been paid to performing rights organisations which they claimed gave them "permission to play millions of different songs, including My Hero".

Eminem vs New Zealand National Party

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Like many of us who don't live in New Zealand, Eminem doesn't usually get involved in New Zealand politics.

But in 2014 the rapper and his publishing company filed a copyright infringement suit against the National Party after Prime Minister John Key used Lose Yourself in a campaign ad without permission.

The National Party insisted they had the right to use to the song through an Australian production company but stopped using the track.

Nick Mulvey vs David Cameron

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This one's more of a complaint at the very thought of having a politician as a fan, let alone being played by them.

In January last year the prime minister told The Daily Mail, external how he liked folky acoustic guitarist Nick Mulvey, describing him as "a bit grungy".

When asked on Twitter about his new fan, Nick (who is in no way a grunge act) said he felt "a bit sick".

See Nick Mulvey's Tweet, external

REM vs Donald Trump

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Yep, Trump again.

This time he rocked up at a rally in Washington, blasting out REM's It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine.)

Tweeting through bandmate Mike Mills, the band's singer Michael Stipe used some pretty strong language.

See Mike Mills' tweet, external

We're not going to show the really strong stuff but he called Trump and his team "sad, attention-grabbing, power-hungry little men" and insisted they shouldn't "use our music or my voice for your moronic charade of a campaign".

MGMT vs Nicolas Sarkozy

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The indie band's song Kids was everywhere in 2009 - including two online videos for the French president's Union for Popular Movement (UMP) party.

The American psychedelic rockers threatened to sue and the UMP said it had used the song by mistake and offered a token one euro in compensation.

The band's French lawyer, Isabelle Wekstein, rejected the offer as "insulting".

The UMP party eventually settled for around $39,050 (approx £24,000) which MGMT donated to an artists' rights organization.

Neil Young vs Donald Trump

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It would be rude not to end on Donald, really.

Last June, the halls of Trump Tower reverberated with Rockin' in the Free World - on repeat - when Trump announced plans to "be the greatest president that God ever created."

Neil Young's manager released a statement saying Trump was "not authorised" to use the song.

Trump reps, however, claimed they had permission to use the song and his campaign manager has since said Donald is still a Neil Young fan, regardless of the musician's political views.

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