The track heavily incorporates the instrumental arrangement of the Eagles' song despite not obtaining required licensing. In 2012, representatives of
Don Henley, the Eagles' lead vocalist and co-writer of "Hotel California", issued a
cease-and-desist letter, threatening legal action if Ocean continued to perform or distribute the song. Henley criticized Ocean's use of the track, stating that it amounted to copyright infringement rather than artistic reinterpretation. The legal threats led to the removal of "American Wedding" from streaming platforms and music-sharing websites like
YouTube. Henley's team also warned Ocean against performing the song live, prompting Ocean to address the situation on his
Tumblr blog. He expressed frustration at the legal actions, asserting that the track was a free release and intended to honor the original, not to generate profit: "He (They) threatened to sue if I perform it again. I think that's fuckin awesome... Ain't this guy rich as fuck? Why sue the new guy? I didn't make a dime off that song. I released it for free." In 2015, Henley called Ocean a "talentless little prick" in an interview. He stated that Ocean "did not understand or respect intellectual property", and younger artists looked at songs as "interactive playthings". His remarks were criticized by
Stereogum, which accused him of condemning Ocean "for something that amounts to an homage" while overlooking the influence of African-American genres, like
R&B, on his and the Eagles' music. == References ==