Sony Music Entertainment has filed a lawsuit against the University of Southern California (USC), alleging unauthorized use of over 170 songs, including Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” and other artists from the record company. The lawsuit, filed on March 11, 2025, in New York federal court, claims that USC’s athletics program used these songs in 283 promotional videos on platforms like TikTok and Instagram without obtaining proper licenses.
Sony Music is seeking statutory copyright damages of $150,000 per song, potentially totaling tens of millions of dollars. The label asserts that it has been warning USC about the infringement since 2021, but the university continued using the music to boost social media engagement and promote ticket and merchandise sales.
This case underscores the importance of respecting artists’ intellectual property rights. Unauthorized use of Michael Jackson’s music not only violates legal standards but also disregards the value of his artistic contributions.
Attorneys for USC will answer the complaint, deny wrongdoing and offer defenses.
Based on arguments offered by NBA and AHL teams, probable defenses include fair use, which means lawful copying of others’ works. The success of a fair use defense depends on several factors, one of which is how much copying took place. Social media posts that contain short clips with several seconds of a song could be deemed more in line with fair use, as the copying is relatively brief. Fair use can also be found when the use transforms the original work into something new. USC could assert a brief use of music to celebrate an athlete or team’s accomplishment is mainly about the athletic accomplishment and not the music. The school might also argue that at least some of the social media posts are about relaying news, such as the outcome of a game or an upcoming schedule, and news-related purposes are consistent with fair use.
Another defense, depending on when the social media posts were made, is that the statute of limitations have run out.
Copyright infringement claims have a three-year statute of limitations. In a U.S. Supreme Court amicus brief recently filed by eight NBA teams that are being sued for music infringement, the teams urged the Court to reject the discovery rule, which delays the three-year clock until a copyright holder discovers or should have discovered infringement. The teams point out that many social media posts feature mere “snippets of music or images in the background,” such as a stadium or arena playing a song that can be heard in a video posted on social media about a team or athlete.
U.S. District Judge Gregory H. Woods will preside over Sony et al. v. USC.
Sony Music has previously taken legal action for similar infringements, including a recently settled lawsuit against Marriott. The outcome of this case could set a precedent for how educational institutions handle copyrighted material in the digital age.
