Beastie Boys have sued Brinker International, the owner of Chili’s Grill and Bar, for copyright infringement and violating their trademark rights in an advert.
The food chain used the rap group’s classic song “Sabotage” in a commercial and also parodied the iconic music video for the clip.
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In the lawsuit, the Beastie Boys claim Brinker “intended to evoke the three members of Beastie Boys” in the advert by parodying the video for “Sabotage” and including “three characters wearing obvious ’70s-style wigs, fake mustaches and sunglasses” in the promotional material.
The Beasties claim 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.”
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Through the complaint, the Beastie Boys are seeking $150,000 in damages and want Brinker to pull the commercial with immediate effect.
Additionally, the group want an order instated that will prevent the company from using their music in the future.
Founding Beastie Boys member Adam “MCA” Yauch, who died in 2012 due to cancer, included a provision in his will that prevented his name and likeness being used for advertising purposes.
He also wanted no music created by him to be used in advertising, though it is not clear if this is legally enforceable given copyright laws.
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The band have history in pursuing litigation regarding use of their music, successfully suing Monster Beverage Corp for millions of dollars in 2015 for using their music in an advert without permission.
One of the first examples of the group licensing their music was for Joe Biden’s first presidential campaign in 2020.
That commercial used “Sabotage” as part of Biden’s campaign to highlight the damaging effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the live music industry.
A spokesperson for Biden’s ultimately successful campaign said the Beastie Boys allowed their music to be used because of “the importance of the election.”
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The ad saw a live music venue owner criticizing Trump and his administration handling of the pandemic, which led to the months-long closure of venues, bars and restaurants as the U.S. looked to halt the spread of infections.
