The Beastie Boys have sued the owner of the Chili’s restaurant chain in the US for copyright infringement over a promotional video posted to social media that used their track ‘Sabotage’ without permission. They also reckon that visual elements of the Chili’s promotional content infringed their trademarks because of similarities with the official video to their 1994 track.
The Chili’s video, their lawsuit states, featured “three characters wearing obvious 70s style wigs, fake moustaches and sunglasses who were intended to evoke the three members of Beastie Boys”. Those characters were seen “robbing” ingredients from a Chili’s restaurant intercut with fictitious opening credits, “in ways obviously similar to and intended to evoke in the minds of the public the well-known official ‘Sabotage’ video”.
The fact the group is claiming for both copyright and trademark infringement will impact on damages. They want $150,000 in statutory damages for copyright infringement, twice, once for the recording and once for the song, and additional damages for trademark infringement and false representations, on the basis that, by parodying the original ‘Sabotage’ video, Chili’s were implying the Beastie Boys were endorsing the brand.
If the dispute gets to court, the group will likely push for maximum damages on the basis they never allow brands to use their music in advertising, and therefore had Chili's sought permission, as they should have done, that permission would have been denied. Indeed, as the new lawsuit notes, the will of late Beastie Boys member Adam Yauch included a provision stating that his music should never be licensed for brand use.
The social media platforms where the Chili’s promo video was posted will have had their own music licences. However, those licences only cover user-generated content, not brand content. Brands, therefore, need to secure bespoke sync licences from all the relevant copyright owners, or only use music that platforms have specifically cleared for brand use, such as tracks in TikTok’s Commercial Music Library.
There have been a number of lawsuits in recent years, usually filed by the major record companies, against brands that have posted videos to social media platforms with uncleared music. Targeted brands have included Gymshark, Bang and Iconics.
This new lawsuit has been filed by the Beastie Boys themselves - Michael Diamond, Adam Horovitz and the estate of Adam Yauch - and their company Brooklyn Dust Music. That company owns the publishing rights and co-owns the recording rights in ‘Sabotage’, and also controls all of the group’s trademarks and other rights.