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The Beastie Boys and Universal Music Group have reached a resolution in lawsuits that claimed Chili’s parent company utilized the iconic rap group’s track “Sabotage” from 1994 in online advertisements on social media platforms to endorse the restaurant brand.
Settlement notices were posted on Wednesday in Manhattan federal court and Dallas federal court, where Beastie Boys and UMG filed their respective cases against Chili’s parent Brinker International. Terms were not disclosed.
Lawyers for Beastie Boys, UMG and Brinker did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday.
“Sabotage” was a single from Beastie Boys’ album “Ill Communication.” It drew additional notice from its Spike Jonze-directed music video, a parody of 1970s TV police dramas.
Beastie Boys objected to a Chili’s video that they said included significant portions of “Sabotage” and echoed the actual “Sabotage” video.
The video included “three characters wearing obvious 70s-style wigs, fake mustaches, and sunglasses who were intended to evoke the three members of Beastie Boys,” according to the complaint.
Beastie Boys said they do not license their intellectual property to third parties to advertise products, and late founding member Adam “MCA” Yauch forbade such use in his will.
The trio’s members also included Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz and Michael “Mike D” Diamond.
Founded in 1981 in New York City, Beastie Boys were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April 2012, less than one month before Yauch died.
In June 2014, Beastie Boys won a $1.7 million jury verdict, opens new tab against energy drink maker Monster Beverage over a YouTube video that included a remix of its songs, including “Sabotage”.
As of March 26, Dallas-based Brinker owned, operated or franchised 1,573 Chili’s and 53 Maggiano’s Little Italy restaurants.
The cases are Beastie Boys et al v Brinker International Inc, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 24-05221; and UMG Recordings Inc et al v Brinker International Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas, No. 24-02535.
