New Delhi

The Beastie Boys have filed a lawsuit against Brinker International, the parent company of Chili's, alleging the chain used their seminal hit "Sabotage" in an ad without permission.

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According to a federal lawsuit filed in New York on Wednesday, Brinker International created a Chili's ad running portions of "Sabotage" and aped the song's ultra-famous music video.

A request for comment via email to Brinker International was unreturned and an attorney for the company is not listed in the court filings.

"Sabotage," released in 1994, was one of the biggest hits for The Beastie Boys. Its music video, featuring the group running around wearing wigs, fake moustaches, and sunglasses in a comedy take on 1970s crime TV shows, is among those genre's most recognisable.

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The lawsuit claims that in 2022, Brinker created a Chili's advertisement for social media that used parts of "Sabotage" along with a video of three people in 1970s-style disguises stealing ingredients from a Chili's restaurant.

The suit was brought by Beastie Boys surviving members Adam Horovitz and Michael Diamond, along with the executor of the estate of the late Adam Yauch. Yauch died in 2012 of cancer, leaving behind explicit instructions that his music could never be licensed to sell commercials should that opportunity ever arise.

This isn't the first time the Beastie Boys have taken action against the unauthorised use of their music. Back in 2014, they won $1.7 million for copyright violation against Monster Energy drink over the use of one of their songs.

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It really, in that regard, reads a case of the beginning of a whole new fight to protect the rights of creative artists from exploitation by dispersed interests working subtly against their consent. The Beastie Boys have not taken the issue of intellectual property lightly; this case is a revelation to companies that are misusing copyrighted material unaware of the legal backlash that could await them.