Two of the big companies today are being sued by a rock band, Black Keys. Apparently, Home Depot did not get any permits for the usage of their song, “Lonely Boy” while Pizza Hut was sued for misuse of their hit “Gold on the Ceiling” in their pizza ad.
Together with their Musician-producer, Brian Burton, Black Keys filed the case last Thursday and are asking over $75,000 for damages for each song and a preventive restriction order for usage of songs in commercials.
"The experts confirmed that this was copyright infringement," band spokeswoman Mary Moyer said.
Both Pizza Hut and Home Depot spokes persons (Christopher Fuller and Stephen Holmes, respectively) have not yet seen the complaint but has stated that the rights of artists are important and are respected. "We haven't seen the complaint yet, but respect for intellectual property rights is a matter we take very seriously," said Holmes.
Other inquiries for Pizza Hut were directed to The Martin Agency and The Interpublic Group of Companies who were the creator of the ad. Both agencies however, did not give any response yet.
The Black Keys also claims that written notices of misuse of their music were given to the companies but has not taken any action to it.
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