Cardi B attends the Warner Music Group Pre-Grammy Party in Manhattan, New York, U.S., January 25, 2018. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
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- New case follows lawsuits from Universal Music, Sony Music
- Court previously found Bang infringed hundreds of UMG, Sony copyrights
(Reuters) – Energy drink maker Bang Energy and its CEO Jack Owoc are facing a third lawsuit from a major music label over their social-media ads, after several Warner Music Group affiliates accused them of setting TikTok and Instagram videos to music with songs by artists including Beyonce, Bruno Mars and Cardi B without a license.
Warner Music’s lawsuit, filed in Miami federal court on Thursday, comes one day after a judge in the same court found Bang liable for infringing over 200 Sony Music copyrights. U.S. District Judge William Dimitrouleas also ruled for Universal Music Group on similar claims against the drink company in July.
Bang did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday. Warner Music declined to comment on the lawsuit.
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Warner Music told the court Thursday that Bang’s rise to become the third-best-selling energy drink in the U.S. was largely powered by its video advertising on social media platforms, especially TikTok and Instagram.
Bang’s TikTok account has over 1.5 million followers, and TikTok videos with the #bangenergy hashtag have over 18 billion views. Its Instagram account has 2.3 million followers.
Warner Music said it sent Bang a cease-and-desist letter following Universal Music’s lawsuit last year. The lawsuit said that some of the infringing videos remained up over a year later, and that Bang posted new infringing videos after receiving the letter.
The label accused Bang of violating its copyrights in 187 songs by popular musicians including The Weeknd, Justin Bieber and Dua Lipa.
WMG requested either actual money damages or statutory damages of up to $150,000 per song, as well as a court order to permanently block Bang from using its music.
The case is Atlantic Recording Corp v. Vital Pharmaceuticals Inc d/b/a Bang Energy, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, No. 1:22-cv-22951.
For Warner Music: Rollin Ransom of Sidley Austin
For Bang Energy: information not available
Read more:
Bang Energy’s social-media ads violate Sony Music copyrights, judge says
Bang Energy violated UMG music copyrights in TikTok ads, judge says
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Blake Brittain