Beastie Boys are suing Chili’s over copyright infringement for ‘Sabotage’ use in commercial

nme.com:

Beastie Boys will sue the company that owns Chili’s Grill and Bar, claiming the restaurant chain unlawfully parodied their 1994 hit ‘Sabotage’.The hip hop trio have filed a lawsuit against Brinker International for using their song in a Chili’s advert, which allegedly spoofed ‘Sabotage’ and its iconic Spike Jonze-directed video.Filed on Wednesday (July 10) in New York on behalf of the three members Adam Horovitz ‘Ad Rock’, Mike ‘Mike D’ Diamond and the estate of Adam ‘MCA’ Yauch (who passed away in 2012), the band’s lawyers argued the chain used ‘Sabotage’ “without the permission of the rights owners.”Beastie Boys do not license any of their intellectual property for “third-party product advertising purposes”, which Yauch reportedly included in his will.They claimed one Chili’s video not only used ‘Sabotage’, but also showed “three characters wearing obvious 70s-style wigs, fake mustaches, and sunglasses who were intended to evoke the three members of Beastie Boys performed scenes depicting them ‘robbing’ ingredients from a Chili’s restaurant.”The band have alleged this was meant to parody the ‘Sabotage’ video and falsely given the impression that they endorse Chili’s.Beastie Boys are seeking around $150,000 (£115,932) in damages and demanding Brinker remove the offending videos.

The band will reportedly seek an order to prevent the company from using their songs for future videos as well.NME has approached Brinker International for comment.The hip-hop group recently announced a 30th anniversary reissue of their 1994 album ‘Ill Communication’.The forthcoming boxset will comprise three vinyl LPs – two of the original album remastered, and a third record featuring remixes, bonus tracks and rarities – along with a.