Record label Sony Music Entertainment (SME) is taking USC to court for using unlicensed musical tracks in promotional videos on social media accounts linked to the university, including USC Athletics.
The lawsuit alleged, despite repeated warnings starting in 2021, the university allowed 170 unlicensed recordings in 283 social media videos on 30 different USC-affiliated social media accounts.
SME alongside subsidiary labels Alamo Records, Arista Music, Arista Records, LaFace Records, Records Label, Ultra Records and Zomba Recordings allege the university “chose to flaunt copyright law” and chose to its music “knowingly and willfully and without permission.”
“USC’s conduct has caused and continues to cause irreparable and substantial harm to Sony Music, while enriching USC at the expense of Sony Music and its artists,” the suit states.
The 170 unlicensed tracks include classic hits, including “Gimme More” by Britney Spears, “Run the World (Girls)” by Beyoncé, “Beat It” by Michael Jackson, “Back in Black” by AC/DC, “Yeah!” by Usher featuring Lil Jon & Ludacris, “As It Was” by Harry Styles” and “My Heart Will Go On” by Céline Dion.
Sony Music also accused USC of capitalizing on new hit songs, including “Like That” by Future, Metro Boomin, and Kendrick Lamar just days after it debuted, charting #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks.
Most notably, it was featured in the viral “Arrival of the Trojan” football hype video, which amassed millions of views online and played prior to home football games on the jumbotron.
USC Athletics and USC Football have since taken the video down from university affiliated accounts.
Sony Cinema Cameras North America did collaborate with the athletics program, producing a behind the scenes video on their YouTube.
The music company is asking the university to pay $150,000 for each copyright infringement, totaling over $42 millions.
Sony is also demanding a declaration that USC “willfully infringed” on copyrighted material, a full audit of the university’s “profits, gains, advantages and the value of the business opportunities received,” and “its attorneys’ fees and full costs” covered.
In a statement to NBCLA, the university said “USC respects the intellectual property rights of others and will respond to these allegations in court.”
USC reported $212 million in total athletics revenue for the 2022- 2023 school year. It’s unclear how much of that figure is net profit.
SME is the second largest music label behind Universal Music Group.
According to the complaint, the record label originally contacted USC in June 2021 of its substantial unauthorized use on the university’s YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok accounts. It reignited that conversation in January of 2023, and then again in January of 2024.
On August 15, 2024, USC and Sony Music Entertainment “entered into an agreement to toll the statute of limitations to allow for settlement discussions to continue,” which extended through January 15 of 2025.
A “tolling agreement” is when two parties entering legal discourse put a pause of time-sensitive legal deadlines to allow additional time for deliberations or investigation.
When SME offered to extend the toll agreement, USC refused, the suit stated.
Despite being notified, the school failed to obtain a synchronization license, which allows the holder to use the music in conjunction with visual images, according to Sony Music.
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