Today in Copyright Lawsuits — APM Sues Johnson & Johnson Over ‘Rampant Copyright Infringement’

Photo Credit: Wesley Tingey

Pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson is being sued for ‘rampant copyright infringement’ by production music house APM.Major production music company Associated Production Music (APM), jointly owned by Sony Music Publishing and Universal Music Publishing Group, is suing pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson in the Central District of California, Western Division, for alleged “rampant” copyright infringement. Notably, neither Sony nor Universal are named as plaintiffs in the suit.

According to the filing, APM alleges that Johnson & Johnson used copyrighted sound recordings without permission in promotional videos on social media, specifically Facebook, Instagram, the former Twitter, and YouTube. APM claims this use infringes on their exclusive rights to reproduce, distribute, and publicly perform the recordings.

The production music company says it first learned of the infringement earlier this year and contacted Johnson & Johnson, who allegedly refused to obtain licenses or even admit to any wrongdoing. APM is seeking an unspecified amount in damages, an injunction to stop further infringement, and attorney’s fees, asserting that Johnson & Johnson is liable for direct, contributory, and vicarious copyright infringement.

“As a direct and proximate result of [Johnson & Johnson’s] direct infringement of [APM’s] copyrights, Plaintiff is entitled to recover its actual damages, including Defendant’s profits from infringement, as will be proven at trial,” attorneys for APM write. Alternatively, the company claims it is entitled to recover up to $150,000 in statutory damages per infringed work.APM’s catalog contains over 1 million tracks, which the company says consist of multiple “diverse and in-demand production libraries,” including Bruton, Cezame, KPM Music, Kosinus, and Sonoton. The company’s music has been synced on major entertainment properties such as Westworld, The Americans, Stranger Things, Game of Thrones, SpongeBob SquarePants, and several films and video games.

The lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson reads similarly to other recent lawsuits filed against large US companies for allegedly using unlicensed music in promotional and social media posts.

In July, a group of NBA teams were hit with lawsuits alleging the use of copyrighted music without permission in promo videos posted to the official NBA website and social media accounts. Those suits, filed by Kobalt Music Publishing and other publishers, called out teams including the New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets.