Designer Shoe Warehouse (DSW) is fighting back against social media copyright infringement claims from majors, arguing that the platforms’ licensing agreements cover both individual and commercial users. Photo credit: Anthony92931
It turns out that designer shoe retailer DSW (DSW) isn’t thrilled about being sued for social media copyright infringement. Amid a court showdown with Warner Music, the retail chain’s parent company is now seeking a declaratory judgment against Universal Music, Sony Music, and BMG.
Designer brands (NYSE: DBI) filed its own complaint yesterday, after Warner Music Group (WMG) initially sued the outfit in May. WMG, we reported at the time, is accusing the DSW Shoe Shoehouse owner of infringing on over “ two hundred recordings and compositions in social media promotional videos.”
As many know, music libraries on platforms like TikTok and Instagram are generally free for personal, but non-commercial, use. Without going into too much detail here, it’s worth reiterating that music rights groups have led similar actions against Boom Energy , Crabcakes , NBA teams , AHL teams , Chili’s , and Marriott , to name a few.
And while several of these lawsuits have settled, DSW is pulling out all the stops to oppose the majors’ alleged attempt to “force unjustified settlement payments from innocent users of social media platforms.”
Apparently, in addition to WMG’s complaint, Sony Music, Universal Music, and BMG have “threatened to file a copyright infringement lawsuit against” DSW.
Enter the current lawsuit and DSW’s belief that Social Services’ music libraries, while covering individual users, also cover business users as well. By publishing the relevant social posts, DSW’s parties were “merely doing what the platforms allow and what the labels encourage.”
“Indeed, the record labels and the social media platforms themselves disclosed in the press that they had reached licensing agreements that allow users to incorporate the labels’ music into their posts,” the lawsuit reads in part, going on to cite related releases of length from the litigants and potential social services.
“Labels and platforms have never excluded companies from their previous promises that users of their platforms can incorporate the labels’ music as part of their posts,” the statement continues.
DSW further maintains that labels (and publishers) are simply trying to “extract even more money for royalties for which they have already received full compensation.”
The said compensation refers to payments from the underlying licensing agreements, as well as “the free advertising that the labels and their associated companies receive”.
“Indeed,” the filing continues, “embedding a sample of a song in a social media post… promotes sales of the completed musical works.”
Not stopping there, DSW’s declaratory judgment exploits social service terms, allowing users to embed uploaded media into their own content.
By that logic, when majors post tracks on social media, they allegedly “grant the relevant platform broad licensing rights to publish and distribute the music…including to allow other users on the social media account to reuse and repost music from other user posts,” according to the document.
With that, DSW is seeking, among other things, an order declaring that it did not infringe on the IP of PME, UMG or BMG – as well as another order awarding “all reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses incurred” in filing the lawsuit.
