NBA Teams Sued For Using Hip-Hop Songs In Social Media Posts

A wave of copyright infringement lawsuits have hit the NBA. On July 18, Kobalt Music Publishing, Artist Publishing Group and others put out several lawsuits. They accuse fourteen NBA teams of copyright infringement, including the New York Knicks, Orlando Magic, Cleveland Cavaliers and Indiana Pacers. Other teams facing litigation are the Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Atlanta Hawks, Miami Heat, New Orleans Pelicans, Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings and San Antonio Spurs.

According to the suits, first obtained by XXL on Monday, the plaintiffs are accusing the NBA teams of “exploiting the copyrights by synchronizing the works with the videos, which are intended to promote defendants’ commercial activities, and then exploiting the videos on a variety of consumer-facing platforms.” They add that the “defendants did not obtain plaintiffs’ license, authorization, or consent to synchronize the works with the videos.”

The songs listed include hip-hop tracks like Busta Rhymes’ “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See,” Shaquille O’Neal’s “I Know I Got (Skills),” A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie’s “Look Back at It,” and DJ Khaled’s “All I Do Is Win.” Additional artists include Jay-Z, Cardi B, Migos, and OutKast. The lawsuits seek $150,000 for each infraction. Moreover, many of the NBA teams in question have already deleted the videos from their accounts. “Defendants are acutely aware of the protections that the copyright laws of the United States afford,” said lawyers for the music companies in statements that appeared across each lawsuit. “[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.”

Social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok provide enormous libraries of licensed music for users to add to their videos. But there’s an exception: brands cannot use them for commercial or promotional videos. That kind of content requires a separate license, similar to licensing music for a standard television commercial. Based on these copyright infringement lawsuits, it seems like many teams were operating without that license. The NBA is yet to comment on them.