A content creator workspace. Photo Credit: Catherina Schürmann
Another day, yet another social media copyright lawsuit – once again from Warner Music Group (WMG), which is suing Pacsun over allegedly infringing promotional videos.
Warner Music just recently submitted the straightforward suit, naming Pacific Sunwear of California (Pacsun) as a defendant. By now, many in (and some outside) the industry are aware of the flurry of actions levied over companies’ allegedly unauthorized use of music in promos on TikTok, Instagram, and other platforms.
In general, said platforms’ terms allow individuals (not businesses) to incorporate pre-cleared tracks into personal videos; companies, for their part, must obtain standalone licenses for music-equipped uploads. The way the majors and several publishers tell the story, however, all sorts of high-profile brands have opted against doing so.
To be sure, universities, professional sports teams, restaurant chains, energy drink companies, and different apparel businesses have faced (and, in certain instances, are still facing) infringement litigation.
Bearing as much in mind, Warner Music’s Pacsun suit, alleging direct, contributory, and vicarious infringement alike, doesn’t break very much new ground.
According to WMG, Pacsun infringed on nearly 300 compositions and recordings in social media promos – a portion allegedly uploaded by the company itself, others allegedly posted by influencers. This includes works recorded by Olivia Rodrigo, Snoop Dogg, Dua Lipa, Radiohead, and The Weeknd, to name a few.
Per Warner Music, the song-heavy clips “are integral to PacSun’s promotional, marketing, and branding strategy,” which has purportedly helped the clothing seller generate “hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenues.”
Regarding pre-litigation notices, WMG is said to have sent Pacsun a cease-and-desist letter in February 2024 about its alleged “blatant, willful, and repeated copyright infringement.”
Though the exact chain of events is unclear from there, any subsequent discussions evidently failed to produce an amicable resolution. DMN reached out to Pacsun and its Golden Gate Capital parent for comment; Pacsun didn’t respond in time for publishing, and Golden Gate declined to provide a statement.
As for the status of Warner Music’s separate social-infringement complaints, a Designer Shoe Warehouse legal battle is plodding through discovery and has a related conference scheduled for December 9th.
The same (that the case is tangled in the discovery weeds) appears to be true of Warner Music’s Crumbl copyright confrontation.
Additionally, amid the defendant’s motion to dismiss on jurisdictional grounds, it’s been a while since Sony Music’s University of Southern California suit delivered a significant development. And as we reported last month, a ticked-off songwriter is looking to reopen the seemingly settled showdown between publishers and NBA teams.
