Beastie Boys are suing Brinker International, the parent company of Chili’s Grill & Bar, for copyright infringement and violating their trademark rights after the restaurant chain used their 1994 hit “Sabotage” and their likeness for a commercial parodying the iconic Spike Jonze–directed music video. In a complaint filed in a New York federal court on Wednesday (July 10), the rap group said that Brinker used the Ill Communication song to imply falsely that Beastie Boys endorsed Chili’s.
In the lawsuit, obtained by Pitchfork, Beastie Boys’ attorneys argue that Brinker “intended to evoke the three members of Beastie Boys” by featuring, in the commercial, “three characters wearing obvious 70s-style wigs, fake mustaches, and sunglasses.” The lawyers also clarify that the Beastie Boys “do not license ‘Sabotage’ or any of their other intellectual property for third-party product advertising purposes.”
Beastie Boys are asking the court for $150,000 in monetary damages, for Brinker to take down the commercials, and for an order to prevent Brinker from using their work moving forward. In a similar matter, back in 2014, Beastie Boys won a $1.7 million jury verdict against Monster Beverage Corp for using their music without permission.
