Five months after filing a copyright infringement lawsuit against hotel giant Marriott, Sony Music Entertainment appears to have settled the case.
In filing a joint lawsuit in Maryland federal court on Tuesday (October 8), Sony and Marriott asked that the case be dismissed “with prejudice.” This means that this case cannot be refiled.
Court documents do not indicate whether the two companies reached an out-of-court settlement.
Sony, along with its affiliated labels sony music latin, Arista Music, Arista Records, extremist, Lafaceand Record Label LLC – plus Limas Entertainmenthouse bad bunny – filed a lawsuit in May alleging “rampant” copyright infringement. Marriott International In a social media post.
Sony’s lawyers said they confirmed 931 Unauthorized use of Sony music in social media posts by Marriott owned, managed or franchised hotels. They argued that the hotel chain’s infringement was not limited to music owned by Sony.
Under U.S. copyright law, this number of infringements may result in Marriott suffering: $140 million In statutory damages.
Marriott International is the world’s largest hotel chain by number of beds. Owns, manages or franchises hotels. Marriott, Sheraton, westin, The Ritz-Carltonand Le Meridien Brand.
Sony’s complaint against Marriott, which you can read in full here, alleges that the hotel chain’s use of Sony music in social media posts was sometimes carefully designed to capitalize on the popularity of certain songs or artists, and that Marriott was “well aware” of it. He claimed that ” Explains how music affects the visibility of promotional social media posts.
“It is no coincidence that Marriott Video uses some of the most popular sound recordings from the Sony Music Library,” the complaint states.
“On algorithm-based social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTokAdding popular sound recordings to your posts will make them appear in the feeds of users who are interested in that music and might not otherwise encounter your Marriott posts.
“Including these popular sound recordings helps users discover your posts when they search the platform for content with specific artists, songs, or music-related tags.”
In recent years, Sony has been hit with several lawsuits over unauthorized use of its music in advertising.
A lawsuit was filed against a fitness clothing brand. gym shark In 2021, the company claimed that it had infringed on its copyright. 297 Advertisement recording. The two companies the lawsuit was settled Out of court in 2022.
In 2021, a lawsuit was filed against the cosmetics brand. OFRAThe cosmetics brand claimed to have infringed on the copyright of “hundreds” of Sony songs.
OFRA “has achieved success through blatant, willful, and repeated copyright infringement of sound recordings and musical compositions by a variety of content owners,” Sony asserted. This case is still ongoing.worldwide music business
