Major Music Publisher Sues USC Over Copyright Infringement Sports and growth of NIL drive use of music on college athletes' social media By Dan Daley, Audio Editor
Monday, March 17, 2025 - 10:45 am
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The music industry's increasing willingness to resort to litigation to combat copyright infringement is on a collision course with college sports' growing affluence. Sony Music Entertainment (SME) has filed a copyright-infringement lawsuit against the University of Southern California (USC), alleging that the school repeatedly and willfully used unauthorized copyrighted music in its social-media posts.
Specifically, in a complaint filed at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, SME's lawyers presented evidence of 283 posts by USC Athletics social-media accounts using 170 SME-owned songs, which the complaint says were unauthorized uses. Among the songs cited are Gimme More by Britney Spears, Run the World (Girls) by Beyonc , and Beat It by Michael Jackson.
The complaint alleges, USC also exploits Sony Music's hit recordings when they have just been released and are at the top of the charts.
The NCAA recorded nearly $1.4 billion in revenue for its 2024 fiscal year - the association's best in at least two decades, it asserts, and a nearly $91 million increase over the revenue total it reported for 2023. And the bulk of the NCAA's revenue comes from media rights and marketing deals tied to championship events.
It's Not an Isolated Incident The copyright-infringement problem is ongoing. Last year, 14 NBA teams - including the Atlanta Hawks, Miami Heat, and New York Knicks - were sued for copyright infringement by music publishers, including Kobalt Music Publishing and Artist Publishing Group. The lawsuits alleged that the teams used copyrighted music in social-media videos and on their official NBA websites without the copyright owner's permission. The music was used to promote team activities and products and to increase viewership and engage fans. Similar suits go back more than a decade.
The issue is exacerbated by the recent and rapid growth of name/image/likeness (NIL) rules, which allow college athletes to make and earn from endorsement deals, and they often use music on social media to promote those arrangements.
The SME complaint points to a social-media guideline document issued by USC, which notes, among other things, that all music is copyrighted[,] which means, prior to featuring it in your video, you must license it through the proper vendors and channels.
SME's complaint seeks to portray USC as a commercial enterprise, noting that the school recorded more than $7 billion in operating revenues for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024, and reported $212 million in athletic revenue for the 2022-23 school year.
USC's sports programs bear the hallmarks of a commercial enterprise, the complaint states. USC's football coach Lincoln Riley was paid more than $19 million in the 2023 fiscal year, one of the highest-paid college football coaches in the nation. USC's football program led the nation in digital engagement and amassed nearly 21 million video views across social-media platforms in September 2024 alone.
The statutory damage for infringement is $150,000 per instance, not per song. Thus, the maximum statutory award for 283 infringements would be $42.45 million.
Sports leagues continue to be sued by music publishers. For instance, APM Music, which is jointly owned by Sony Music Publishing and Universal Music Publishing Group, last year filed suit against the AHL for alleged rampant copyright infringement of music on its teams' social-media posts.
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Major Music Publisher Sues USC Over Copyright Infringement Sports and growth of NIL drive use of music on college athletes' social media By Dan Daley, Audio Editor 
