For sports teams and leagues
Fourteen NBA teams learned this one the hard way.
Highlight reels, hype videos, walkouts and player content are all cut to music. We check your team and league accounts, player and creator content, and sponsor posts, and tell you exactly what to fix. Know every post is safe before a rights owner asks.
✓ No logins, just your handles✓ Results in 5 business days✓ Every flag confirmed by a person
Sports media became a music lawsuit category
Sports teams publish more video than most media companies. Every game produces highlights, every week produces hype videos, and every player, mascot and dance team produces clips. For years, much of it was cut to whatever song felt right. Then the letters started.
In July 2024 a group of music publishers, including Kobalt, sued around 14 NBA teams, claiming their social media videos used songs without permission. The teams pushed back hard, arguing their videos were fair use and calling the claims a shakedown. In 2023 Associated Production Music, a production library owned by Sony and Universal, sued Major League Soccer over music in social posts, and in 2024 it sued the American Hockey League over the same issue. These are claims, not findings, and the cases have taken different paths, but the message to every team and league is the same: someone is watching your highlight reels.
Why sports content is so exposed
Three things make teams unusually exposed. First, volume: a team can post thousands of videos a season across accounts. Second, music is part of the product. Hype videos and walkouts are built around a track, not just decorated with one. Third, a lot of the content is made fast by game-day staff and interns working to deadlines, often with music pulled from whatever is on hand.
Production music is a special trap. Many teams use library tracks they believe are covered, but a library license usually covers specific uses, channels and terms. APM's cases against MLS and the AHL were about production music, not pop hits. "We used stock music" is only safe if your license actually covers how you used it.
Where teams usually have exposure
- Highlight reels and hype videos on team and league accounts.
- Player, mascot and dance team accounts posting team content.
- Arena footage with in-game music audible.
- Sponsor and partner posts that use team footage and music together.
- Production library tracks used outside what the license covers.
- Old content from previous seasons still live on every platform.
A season of content
Picture a pro team with main TikTok, Instagram, X and YouTube accounts, plus dance team, mascot, academy and community accounts. Across a season they publish about 3,000 videos. The creative team has a production library subscription and uses it for big brand pieces. Game-day staff cut quick highlights to whatever track they like. Players post team content to trending songs, and the team reposts the best.
A check usually finds the brand pieces in good shape and the volume content full of flags: highlights with chart songs, arena clips with the PA music audible, and library tracks used on platforms or for durations the license doesn't cover. That's precisely the spread of content that the 2024 claims focused on.
The arena license is not a social license
Teams license music to play in the arena, and those licenses matter. But they cover the venue. Recording that music and posting it online in a promotional video is a separate use that needs permission from the label and the publisher. The same goes for licenses that cover broadcasts: check the terms before you assume they cover social clips cut by your own team.
What we check
Send us your team and league handles and any player, dance team or community accounts you want included. We check posts from the last 90 days or the whole season, plus sponsor posts and running ads using your content. For each video we identify the real song, including production music and songs under "original sound", and whether your use is likely covered.
You get one list across every account, marked green (OK to run), yellow (check soon) and red (fix now), with a specific fix for every flag. A trained reviewer confirms every flag before it reaches you, which matters when the list goes to a content team working on deadline.
Fix the workflow, not just the posts
Teams that stay clean set up a shared, licensed music library for every content producer, confirm what their production library license actually covers, keep arena PA music out of posted clips, and check player and partner content before reposting. Then they check the archive, because a highlight from three seasons ago can still be the subject of a claim today.
The first check starts at $500 and is free if there's nothing to fix. For whole-season or multi-account checks, we quote upfront before we start.
Check your team's content
Common questions
What happened with the NBA teams?
In July 2024 a group of music publishers, including Kobalt, sued around 14 NBA teams over songs in social media videos. The teams pushed back, arguing fair use. The cases are claims, and outcomes vary by team.
Were other leagues sued too?
Yes. Associated Production Music, a production music library owned by Sony and Universal, sued Major League Soccer in 2023 and the American Hockey League in 2024 over music in social posts.
Our arena licenses cover music at games. Doesn't that cover social?
No. Licenses for playing music in the arena cover the venue. Putting a song into a highlight or hype video posted online is a different use.
Is fair use a safe defence for highlight videos?
It's not something to rely on. Fair use is decided case by case, and promotional videos for a team are hard to defend as fair use. The NBA teams raised it; that doesn't make it safe.
Is this legal advice?
No. We tell you what's in your content and how to fix it. For a specific claim, talk to a lawyer.
Related
General information, not legal advice. Platform rules and licenses change; check the current terms or ask your lawyer about your situation. Lawsuit figures are as reported and represent claims, not findings, unless noted.