Artist Publishing Group and Others Settle Social Media Infringement Actions Filed Against Over a Dozen NBA Teams

Artist Publishing Group and others have settled the social-focused copyright infringement lawsuits they filed against more than a dozen NBA teams. Photo Credit: Markus Spiske

After almost one year of litigation, music publishers including Kobalt, Artist Publishing Group, and Prescription Songs have settled the copyright infringement actions they filed against 14 NBA teams.

We last checked in on the substantially similar courtroom confrontations, all centering on the allegedly unauthorized use of protected works in social media videos, closer to 2025’s beginning.

Subsequently, February saw the coordinated cases enter mediation, which evidently laid the groundwork for settlements. Regarding the exact timing at hand, the action against the Atlanta Hawks trended a bit ahead of schedule and settled outright that same month.

However, it wasn’t until April that the appropriate parties jointly moved to dismiss the Minnesota Timberwolves suit, and it was only last Thursday that the publisher litigants and the Phoenix Suns formally told the court that “all claims between them have been resolved.”

Of course, we don’t know exactly what the settlements entail. But as social platforms’ licenses cover personal, not commercial, use, one needn’t stretch the imagination to guess the resolutions’ general terms.

(Side note: The NBA itself has been on something of a licensing kick as of late, including a high-profile playoffs campaign in April and a more recent promo featuring a then-unreleased effort from Lil Wayne and Bono.)

To be sure, NBA teams are hardly alone in settling copyright complaints levied by music rightsholders over allegedly unauthorized usages on Instagram, TikTok, and/or different platforms. During the past year, Chili’s parent Brinker, several American Hockey League teams, and Marriott alike have put related actions to rest.

Keeping that point front of mind, social-infringement suits have continued to arrive during 2025.

Sony Music sued the University of Southern California in March, for instance, before Warner Music started litigating against Crumbl Cookies in April. Then, May saw the latter major slap Designer Shoe Warehouse with a separate suit yet for allegedly infringing on hundreds of recordings and compositions.

Today, the presiding judge in the DSW showdown set a July 2026 discovery cutoff and (assuming a deal doesn’t materialize in the interim) mediation session. Additionally, the court today granted an extension (until July 10th) for Sony Music to formally respond to USC’s dismissal motion. Meanwhile, Crumbl now has until June 30th to provide an answer.

In the bigger picture, June has also brought rumblings of possible settlements in publishers’ infringement complaint against X as well as the majors’ copyright suits against Suno and Udio.

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