Law360 reported a Texas rock band’s representatives, Platinum Jack Entertainment Inc., filed suit against Chick-Fil-A Inc. and ESPN Inc. in Texas federal court on Tuesday. The suit alleges that the pair of companies stole a song from Dallas rock band Drayter for in the background of two commercials the companies released featuring the well-known Chick-Fil-A cow mascots and sports anchors.
Only one of the two commercials giving rise to the suit could be found online, but it can be viewed here. The commercial is titled “ESPN: Hafftime Reeport” and features ESPN anchors Adnan Virk and Joey Galloway hosting a sports highlight show with talking points that center around chicken. A rock song is playing in the background throughout the commercial but it does not feature any vocals. The song that has been alleged to have been stolen is “Best I Had” by Drayter, which you can listen to here. Despite the lack of vocals in the commercial, the background song does have some resemblance to “Best I Had.”
Platinum Jack Entertainment is basing its claim on copyright infringement and requesting an injunction preventing ESPN and Chick-Fil-A from continuing their alleged usage of the song. Platinum Jack is also seeking “all profits of defendants attributable to their infringement” and attorneys’ fees for the suit.
LJ Sanchez is a Sports Highlight Contributor for the Harvard Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law and a current first year student at Harvard Law School (Class of 2020).
Image: Mark Turnauckas, Chick-fil-A in Fairlawn, Ohio – panoramio, CC BY-SA 3.0
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