The Beastie Boys have sued Brinker International, the owner of 30 Chili’s Grill & Bar locations in New York, for alleged copyright infringement and trademark rights violations.
The suit comes after a Chili’s ad was released parodying the rap group’s 1994 hit “Sabotage” and its ’70s themed, Spike Jonze-directed video.
The suit alleges that the ad, featuring “three characters wearing obvious 70s-style wigs, fake mustaches, and sunglasses,” was clearly “intended to evoke the three members of Beastie Boys — Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz, Michael “Mike D” Diamond and the late Adam “MCA” Yauch.
“Use of the ‘Sabotage’ sound recording, music composition and video was all without permission,” according to the suit. In the legal action, the group says it does “not license ‘Sabotage’ or any of their other intellectual property for third-party product advertising purposes” and alleges that the ad creates a false impression that the act allowed it.
The suit seeks $150,000 in damages in each case of copyright violation, attorney fees and three times the profits from any false representations. The group also demanded that Brinker pull the ad from circulation and never use its music or likenesses again.
The Beastie Boys are famously averse to commercial licensing. Yauch’s will forbids the use of his image, music and art he created in any form of advertising for products.
If successful, this would be the third time in recent years that the Beastie Boys have triumphed over a company over unlicensed use of their music. In 2013, they won a settlement from toy company GoldieBlox after the firm parodied the group’s 1987 song “Girls” in an ad. The company apologized and donated to charity.
In 2014, the Beastie Boys won a $1.7-million settlement against the makers of Monster Energy Drink for using clips of songs like “Sabotage,” “So What’cha Want,” “Make Some Noise” and “Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun” in a promotional video and a free download without permission from the band.
