There’s a rising trend of prominent businesses being sued for using music in TikTok and Instagram posts without permission.
Just last week, Warner Music Group sued Cookie giant Crumbl over what it alleged was “massive scale” copyright infringement in TikTok posts.
The case follows similar lawsuits from the other major music companies over music usage in social posts, such as Sony Music’s lawsuit against the University of Southern California and UMG’s lawsuit against the owner of US Tex-Mex restaurant chain Chili’s.
Now, Warner Music Group has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against US shoe retailer DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse and parent company Designer Brands Inc, accusing DSW of having “misappropriated over two hundred” of Warner’s recordings and compositions in TikTok and Instagram posts and via paid partnerships with social media influencers.
Warner is seeking statutory damages up to the maximum amount of $150,000 per infringed musical work. With DSW alleged to have infringed over 200 tracks, the damages sought could exceed $30 million.
DSW is described in the lawsuit as “one of North America’s largest designers, producers and retailers of footwear and accessories”.
The company was founded in 1969.
Warner’s complaint notes that “during its 55-year history, DSW has repeatedly licensed music for promoting its brand and products in television commercials” and that DSW has also “licensed music for its commercials from WMG in the past”.
According to the lawsuit, filed in Ohio on Thursday (May 1), DSW allegedly infringed 200+ “popular and valuable musical works” in social media posts by “using these musical works to attract attention to the DSW Videos, drive sales to DSW, and build DSW’s brand awareness and profile”.
Among the works alleged to have been infringed by DSW are what WMG calls “some of the most popular sound recordings and musical compositions in the world”.
Warner claims that DSW used tracks such as Up by Cardi B, Dreams by Fleetwood Mac, About Damn Time by Lizzo, Hung Up by Madonna, and Work it by Missy Elliot in social media posts without a license.
“‘DSW not only failed to pay for the use of Plaintiffs’ Works, but by including these musical works in their promotional materials without Plaintiffs’ consent, DSW deprived Plaintiffs and the recording artists and songwriters that Plaintiffs represent of the ability to control how and where their musical works are used,” the lawsuit stated.
According to the lawsuit, which you can read in full here, “over recent years, DSW, like many retailers, has shifted much of its marketing focus from traditional advertising to promoting its products through social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, as well as via paid partnerships with well-known social media ‘influencers’.”
The lawsuit continues: “Broadly speaking, an ‘influencer’ is a person with a large social media following whose reputation and credibility enables them to influence consumers’ purchasing decisions or brand awareness.
“Knowing that popular music is the best way to capture the attention of its targeted audience, DSW and its social media influencers have incorporated many of Plaintiffs’ most valuable musical works into marketing and advertising videos for DSW’s products.
“These videos … are an integral part of DSW’s promotional, marketing, and branding strategy. DSW distributes the DSW Videos to the public via the various accounts that it maintains on a variety of social media platforms.”
Warner’s complaint argues that even though DSW “is a sophisticated party that has extensive experience with music licensing,” the company “and its influencer partners have failed to seek permission or pay for the use of the sound recordings and musical compositions that are featured in the DSW Videos”.
The lawsuit is the latest involving a prominent music company taking legal action over unauthorized use of music in social media posts.
Energy drink company Bang Energy was sued in 2022, with both Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment winning judgments for similar copyright infringement claims involving unauthorized use of music in social media marketing. Warner also sued Bang Energy in September 2022 after Sony Music scored partial victory in its own case.
The unauthorized use of copyrighted music and sound recordings on social media marketing have prompted major music companies to lodge legal actions in recent months. UMG sued the owner of US Tex-Mex restaurant chain Chili’s in October for allegedly infringing its copyrights in numerous social media posts.
Also in October, Sony Music settled a lawsuit against Marriott Hotels over the alleged “rampant” infringement of copyrighted materials in social media posts.
In another recent case, Sony Music sued the University of Southern California, alleging the school repeatedly and willfully used unauthorized copyrighted music in its social media posts.
Other recent cases include the lawsuit between the Associated Production Music — jointly owned by Sony Music Publishing and Universal Music Publishing Group — and the American Hockey League; the case between Sony Music and US cosmetics brand OFRA; and the lawsuit filed by Kobalt Music Publishing, Artist Publishing Group and others against 14 NBA teams.
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