source: Billboard
Sony Music Entertainment and nine affiliated labels filed a copyright infringement complaint against Kroger in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on August 21, alleging at least 392 unauthorized uses of their recordings across the grocery chain’s social media accounts.
The potential exposure is staggering. At the statutory maximum of $150,000 per work, the suit carries potential damages of $58.8 million.
The complaint, filed by law firm Proskauer Rose LLP and reported by Digital Music News, names 19 corporate defendants.
They include the parent Kroger Co., data subsidiary 84.51 LLC, and regional chains operating under banners such as Mariano’s, King Soopers, Fred Meyer, Harris Teeter and Home Chef.
The alleged infringing posts appeared on Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat, with the most recent content uploaded earlier this August.
The Recordings at the Center of the Case
Billboard reported that the recordings cited include tracks by Beyoncé, Michael Jackson, Billy Joel, Prince, Harry Styles, Mariah Carey, Miley Cyrus, OutKast and The White Stripes, among others.
Sony’s lawyers argued the choices were deliberate: Kroger selected songs for their cultural and seasonal associations to move specific products.
An Instagram post promoting watermelons was set to Styles’ “Watermelon Sugar.” A holiday cocktail video used Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” Several other tracks were used while they sat at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The song choices were no accident. Social platforms like Instagram and TikTok offer pre-cleared music libraries, but those licenses cover personal use only.
Businesses and paid influencers running commercial content must obtain a separate sync license, the same requirement that applies to conventional television advertising.
Sony’s Strongest Evidence: Kroger’s Own Licensing History
Sony’s case leans heavily on Kroger’s prior conduct. According to Net Influencer, Kroger had entered into 14 separate licensing agreements with Sony since 2017 and spent $1.18 billion on advertising in 2025 alone.
Sony also notified Kroger of the alleged infringement in June 2025, per Digital Music News. The activity continued anyway, through August.
The complaint further names 84.51 LLC because Kroger Precision Marketing’s own published guidelines required campaign operations specialists to review and formally approve creative before any advertisement ran.
Sony argues that process makes the infringement a systemic, approved decision rather than a series of isolated mistakes.
A Wider Pattern of Label Litigation Against Brands
This suit is the fifth of its kind against a major brand in under three years, according to Net Influencer.
Earlier actions include Sony’s case against Marriott International (931 alleged uses, settled October 2024), Warner Music against Crumbl (159 works, settled 2026), and a Universal Music and Concord action against Quince.
Kobalt separately sued 14 NBA teams in a similar dispute. Designer Shoe Warehouse and Sony moved to settle their own case just days before the Kroger filing.
Labels are not slowing down. Liam Doolan, founder of copyright audit firm Copyright Check AI, told Net Influencer that 82% of brands are currently running unlicensed music in live social posts, with average potential exposure above $10 million per brand.
He described the gap as an ownership problem: no one inside most organizations takes formal responsibility for the audit.
The brands signing up for the broader creator economy face similar exposure, a dynamic also playing out in legislative battles over platform access (see Pennsylvania AG Sues TikTok, Saying the Platform Lied Its Way to a Teen-Friendly App Store Rating).
A Kroger spokesperson had not responded to a request for comment as of August 24, per Billboard. Sony noted its investigation is ongoing and that additional infringing content, including ephemeral posts on Instagram Stories and Snapchat, may yet be identified.