Photo Credit: Crumbl
Warner Music Group (WMG) filed a complaint in a US District Court in Utah on Tuesday, April 22, alleging cookie chain Crumbl used at least 159 of WMG’s music in promotional videos posted to Instagram and TikTok. WMG says those works include recordings or compositions from artists and songwriters like Ariana Grande, Beyoncé, Bruno Mars, Dua Lipa, Lizzo, Mariah Carey, and Taylor Swift, without proper authorization or licensing.
“Defendants have misappropriated at least 159 of the most popular and valuable sound recordings and musical compositions in the market, using those creative works to build [Crumbl’s] brand profile and drive massive sales to Defendants without any compensation to [WMG],” the lawsuit reads.
“The audio track generally runs the full length of the Crumbl Videos and includes the most familiar portion of the sound recording and underlying musical composition, such as the hook or chorus,” WMG claims. The music giant cites examples such as Lil Mosey’s “Blueberry Faygo” played over a video promoting blueberry cheesecake cookies, another promoting yellow sugar cookies to Coldplay’s “Yellow,” and a third promoting Kentucky butter cake to BTS’ “Butter.”
Further, Warner’s lawsuit asserts that in addition to creating and posting infringing videos directly, Crumbl partnered with social media influencers who then received “perks and rewards” such as “paid initiatives” in exchange for promoting Crumbl products.
“Crumbl draws each of these influencers’ followers to Crumbl’s social media pages and to the Crumbl Videos. Crumbl recruits these individuals — including, upon information and belief, those featured in the Crumbl Videos — to ‘collaborate’ with Crumbl, whereby participants are rewarded for promoting Crumbl products,” the lawsuit reads.
Warner Music Group is seeking up to $150,000 in statutory damages for each infringed work, potentially resulting in damages of up to $23.85 million. The company is also seeking a permanent injunction prohibiting Crumbl from further infringement.
Founded in 2017 with a single store in Utah, Crumbl now has over 1,000 locations worldwide, with more than 29,000 employees. According to Reuters, the company has been exploring a sale since January that could value the business at $2 billion.
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Warner Music Group Files $24 Million Lawsuit Against Crumbl Cookies Over Alleged TikTok and Instagram Infringement – Digital Music News
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