Beastie Boys have taken legal action against Brinker International, the owners of the Chili’s restaurant chain, for allegedly infringing upon the band’s copyright with a commercial resembling that of the band’s hit song and music video “Sabotage.”
Living members Michael Diamond (MIke D.) and Adam Horovitz (Ad-Rock), along with Dechen Yauch, who is the executor of the late Adam Yauch’s (MCA) estate, have joined together to file the complaint, seeking a jury trial over where the restaurant chain did indeed infringe upon the copyright.
According to the complaint, the band alleges that “no earlier than November 2022, Brinker produced, sponsored, and encouraged the creation and posting on social media of videos to promote Brinker’s “Chili’s” restaurants that included musical compositions and sound recordings that were used without the permission of the rights owners.”
The group alleges that portions of their musical composition for “Sabotage” were synched to the commercial video, which featured a trio of characters “wearing obvious 70s-style wigs, fake mustaches, and sunglasses who were intended to evoke the three members of Beastie Boys performed scenes depicting them ‘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 scenes from Plaintiff’s well-known official ‘Sabotage’ video.”
This was all done without the band’s permission as they have not licensed their music for third-party product advertising purposes, a provision that Yauch left in his will that his bandmates have strictly enforced since his passing.
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The suit claims that the infraction was “intentional and willful” and they feel that the ad could mislead viewers into accepting the ad as a band endorsement. As a result, the group is seeking a permanent injunction against Brinker that would keep them from further infringement of the band’s copyrighted works.and necessitate the removal of the ad from promotional platforms.
As for a financial award, the group states that an amount in each case is not less than $150,000, but that the actual damages and profits would be determined at trial.
The full legal complaint may be viewed here.
Beastie Boys, “Sabotage”
About Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage” Video
“Sabotage” initially appeared on Beastie Boys’ 1994 album, Ill Communication. While the song was a solid hit at alternative rock radio, it enjoyed equal or greater successes at MTV where the Spike Jonze-directed video was nominated for five MTV Video Music Awards.
The video featured members of the band dressed as ’70s era police officers, sending up some of the action-oriented 1970s television cop dramas. The clip even went so far as to provide credits for each character much like the opening of a TV series.
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Gallery Credit: Chad Childers, Loudwire