Beastie Boys Sue Chili’s Over Use of "Sabotage"

Photo: Brad Ogbonna for The New York Times

From The New York Times:

The Beastie Boys Sue Chili’s Over Use of ‘Sabotage’
By Orlando Mayorquín
July 11, 2024

The Beastie Boys sued Chili’s Grill & Bar in federal court on Wednesday, accusing the restaurant chain’s main operator of infringing on their copyright of the 1994 hit “Sabotage” by using it in advertisements without permission.

According to the complaint, Brinker International, which operates more than 1,600 Chili’s and other restaurants worldwide, rolled out promotional videos on social media beginning in November 2022 that used significant portions of the song and parodied its music video, directed by Spike Jonze.

The music video playfully pays homage to 1970s television crime dramas and features a fictitious opening credit scene and the group’s members dressed in fake wigs, mustaches and sunglasses of the era.

In the Chili’s video advertisement, three characters dressed in similar ’70s attire rob ingredients from a Chili’s restaurant scored to the sound of “Sabotage,” said the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Brinker International did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday night. Rimon, the law firm representing the band, declined to comment. The advertisement, the lawsuit argues, intended to evoke the three Beastie Boys members — Michael Diamond, Adam Horovitz and Adam Yauch — and scenes from the “Sabotage” music video.

Yauch, who died in 2012 and was known as MCA, is represented among the plaintiffs by Dechen Yauch, the executor of his estate.

The suit seeks a jury trial and at least $150,000 in damages for each of its two claims of copyright infringements: one for the music video and the other for the song.

The band has a history of successfully cracking down on the unsanctioned use of its music for commercial purposes. In June 2014, it won a $1.7 million judgment in a copyright infringement case against Monster, the energy drink maker, which had used remixes of the band’s songs in a promotional video.

Earlier that year, it won another settlement against the toymaker GoldieBlox, which used the band’s song “Girls.”