Metallica force US government to withdraw video featuring unauthorised use of ‘Enter Sandman’

12 July, 2025

Metallica have forced the US government to withdraw a social media video that made use of ‘Enter Sandman’ without authorisation.

The Department of Defense sent out a post on X on Friday (July 11) that featured Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth promoting the country’s military drone capabilities. The original version included the band’s classic 1991 track, but it did not remain online for long.

Metallica promptly issued a copyright notice, and the Department subsequently withdrew the video, posting a version without ‘Enter Sandman’ in its place.

A Pentagon spokesperson said on Friday: “This afternoon, representatives from X reached out to DoD regarding a video posted to our social media page and asked that the video be removed due to a copyright issue with the song ‘Enter Sandman’ by Metallica. The video has been taken down, corrected, and re-uploaded to our page.”

Metallica confirmed to Rolling Stone that the song had been used without their authorisation.

The metal icons will be playing a string of stadium shows in the UK and Europe in 2026, including dates in Dublin, Glasgow, Cardiff and London. Opening sets will come from Gojira, Pantera, Knocked Loose and Avatar. See the full list of dates here and find any remaining tickets here.

They also appeared at Black Sabbath’s ‘Back To The Beginning’ farewell show last week, playing Sabbath’s ‘Hole In The Sky’ and ‘Johnny Blade’.

As for ‘Enter Sandman’, Dave Mustaine – a member of the band in the ‘80s and later the founder of Megadeth – recently claimed the song’s riff was stolen from thrash group Excel, and their song ‘Tapping Into The Emotional Void’.

In a four-star review of Metallica’s ‘M72’ tour opener in Amsterdam, NME wrote: “Metallica have always been a gateway band for heavy music, but there’s a renewed excitement around them now. Tonight’s surprising, ambitious and giddy gig matches that energy at every turn.”

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