In the latest in a growing number of lawsuits over unauthorized use of music in social marketing, Universal Music Group (UMG) has sued the owner of US Tex-Mex restaurant chain Chili’s for allegedly infringing its copyrights in numerous social media posts.
In a complaint filed in a federal court in Dallas on Tuesday (October 8), record companies and music publishers owned by UMG said Chili’s owner Brinker International “failed to pay… for the music that serves as the soundtrack for Chili’s social media ads” posted on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
The complaint claimed publishing and recorded music copyright violations on songs by ABBA, Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj, Shania Twain, and the Spice Girls. It also cited alleged recording copyright violations on tracks by The Weeknd and Lana Del Rey, as well as a publishing copyright violation on Free’s All Right Now, among others.
As of mid-2024, Chili’s had 1,214 locations across the United States, the vast majority of which were company-owned, and 344 locations outside the US, most of them franchises. Brinker reported $4.42 billion in revenue for the fiscal year ended June 26, 2024.
In total, the complaint listed 38 alleged recording copyright violations, and 42 alleged publishing copyright violations. Under US copyright law, the 80 total infringements could leave Brinker liable for up to $12 million in statutory damages.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit include recording companies Capitol Records and UMG Recordings, and publishers Universal Music Corp., PolyGram Publishing, Songs of Universal Inc., Universal Music – MGB NA LLC, and Universal Music – Z Tunes LLC.
Brinker is “well aware of [UMG] and their music catalogs and have obtained licenses for certain musical works, including as recently as 2023. Despite this history and knowledge, however, defendants used scores of [UMG’s] works without permission or payment,” stated the complaint, which can be read in full here.
The complaint described the alleged infringements as “willful,” and said Brinker International includes “successful companies promoting multiple restaurant franchises with their own legal departments and protecting their own intellectual property interests.”
UMG also accused Brinker of having “no effective procedures for ensuring that the social media content posted for their Chili’s commercial restaurant businesses does not violate others’ copyrights.”
UMG’s complaint asks for a permanent injunction preventing Brinker’s businesses from continuing to use UMG’s music, in existing or future social media posts, and for damages “in amounts to be proven at trial.”
The lawsuit was filed the same day that Sony Music Entertainment and Marriott International jointly withdrew a copyright infringement lawsuit that accused the hotel chain of using Sony music without authorization in its social media posts.
It was unclear from court documents whether Sony and Marriott had reached an out-of-court settlement. Sony declined to comment on the matter.
Lawsuits over unauthorized use of music in social media posts have proliferated in recent years.
This past summer, 14 NBA teams were sued by Kobalt Music Publishing, Artist Publishing Group, and others over alleged use of unlicensed music on their social media channels and on the NBA.com website.
In September, Associated Production Music (APM), which is jointly owned by Sony Music Publishing and Universal Music Publishing, sued the American Hockey League over alleged “rampant” copyright infringement in their social media posts.
Also last month, APM sued pharma and household goods giant Johnson & Johnson for allegedly violating copyrights in promo videos the company posted on Facebook and YouTube.
In late 2023, Sony Music sued cosmetics brand OFRA – which has 1.7 million followers on Instagram alone – for what it said was “blatant, willful, and repeated copyright infringement” of “hundreds” of Sony’s songs.Music Business Worldwide