
Beastie Boys vs. Chili’s Lawsuit
The Beastie Boys have filed a lawsuit against the owner of one of America’s largest chain restaurants, Chili’s. Parent company, Brinker International has been brought to federal court over the use of the 1994 hit “Sabotage” in an advertisement.
The ad was posted to social media without proper licensing. The use of the song implied the Beastie Boys endorsement of the chain and, to add insult to injury, the ad featured three characters in 70’s style wigs, fake mustaches, and sunglasses, a take on the famous Sabotage music video.
Not only was this unlicensed, it also went against deceased group member Adam Yauch’s will. Yauch passed away in 2012 and the complaint reads:
“The plaintiffs do not license ‘Sabotage’ or any of their other intellectual property for third-party product advertising purposes, and deceased Beastie Boys member Adam Yauch included a provision in his will prohibiting such uses.”
The ad has been pulled from circulation and the lawsuit is demanding $150,000 in damages for copyright violation, attorney fees, and three times the profits from any false representations. Brinker International must also agree to never use the Beastie Boys’ likeness or music again.
This is not the first commercial licensing case the Beasties Boys have filed. In 2013, GoldieBlox toy company was sued for copyright infringement due to its parody ad of their 1987 song “Girls”. The Beastie Boys won the case and GoldieBlox publicly apologized. The company also donated money to charity to prove their sincerity.
This is also not the first time the Beastie Boys have gone to bat over the song “Sabotage”. Just a year after their first lawsuit they filed another; this time against the creators of Monster Energy Drink. Monster used clips of “Sabotage”, “So What’cha Want”, “Make Some Noise”, and “Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun” to promote their product. The lawsuit proved Monster had used a free download and had no rights to the music. In the end, they ended up paying the Beastie Boys 1.7 million dollars as a settlement.
Although the average American is rarely compelled to file a lawsuit against major dine-in restaurants, many cases require guidance. If you need assistance with filing a lawsuit, contact us at Fausone & Grysko, PLC. (248) 380-0000.