The acting may be over on the court this season, but at least half of the league has started a new kind of battle this summer: in the courts. According to the latest intel from Billboard, at least 14 NBA franchises are being sued over accusations of using copyrighted music.
“Defendants are acutely aware of the protections that the copyright laws of the United States afford,” wrote the lawyers for the music companies. “[The team] utilizes the full extent of legal protections available for its own intellectual property while simultaneously knowingly and willfully infringing on the intellectual property rights of the plaintiffs.”
The lawsuits are the work of Kobalt Music Group, a music publishing company. They represent some of the top artists in the industry and while they do not own any copyrights outright, they have taken it upon themselves to take legal action against improper use of their client’s music. The company is joined by the Artist Publishing Group, Notting Hill Music, and Prescription Songs in these ongoing lawsuits.
The actions were officially filed on Friday and involved at least 14 teams. As it stands, the New York Knicks are one of the most prominent names on the list and are accused of illegally using music from Cardi-B, Jay-Z, and other artists. The Atlanta Hawks were cited for using music from Migos and OutKast while the 76ers were caught for playing Meek Mill.
Those franchises are arguably the most notable ones involved with this case but several other teams have also been identified, including the San Antonio Spurs, Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat, Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, Minnesota Timberwolves, New Orleans Pelicans, Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers, and the Sacramento Kings.
The legal argument here is based on the social media activity of the teams involved. Most platforms have a catalog of songs that their users can play and use without penalty but that does not qualify for brands who use the music for promotional videos. That classification makes it more of a typical advertisement and requires a special kind of license.
The question now is what kind of penalty these teams might face. It’s rather unprecedented for 14 NBA franchises to be sued at once and nobody is sure how it will play out. On one hand, if they really broke the copyright law, whether by ignorance or negligence, they should be required to pay because they should know the rules.
Unfortunately, that would mean that all guilty teams would have to pay up to $150,000 for each violation — and that could cost a small fortune depending on how many times they played illegal songs.
With no response from the NBA or any of the teams involved, it’s hard to say for sure what they are thinking right now. With so much going on between the offseason and the media rights deal, it could be some time before we see another development in this situation.
But the whole ordeal is yet another example of the modern-day challenges that the teams of today are still learning how to face. In the age of social media, even a post of a song can get you into deep trouble and some are finding that out the hard way.
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