Biopic Legal Woes: Sony Suit Over Unpaid Fees
Two years after the Whitney Houston Biopic was released in theaters in the winter of 2022, Sony filed suit against Anthem Films LLC for unpaid fees concerning the late singer’s recordings held by Sony that were used in the Biopic.
Attribution
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On February 14, 2024, a complaint was filed by Plaintiff Sony Music Entertainment and Arista Records LLC against defendants Anthem Films LLC et. al. The complaint alleges that Anthem infringed upon Sony’s licenses of the late singer Whitney Houston’s recordings in their film Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody. The dispute arose over the late singers’ record hits “I Wanna Dance With Somebody”, “How Will I Know”, and “I Will Always Love You” which were licensed by Sony to Anthem for the production of the film in 2022. Sony brought action under the Copyright Act (the Act), 17 U.S.C § § 101, et. seq. citing the willful and unauthorized usage of the singer’s copyrighted sound recordings throughout the biopic after Anthem refused to pay. Under § 501(a) of the Act, anyone who violates any of the exclusive rights of the copyright owner...is an infringer of the copyright.
Sony alleged that Anthem used twenty-four recordings as part of a license agreement and an access agreement. The agreements were subsequently breached after Anthem failed to render payments of the fees to honor their execution of the agreements. In the complaint, Anthem alleged that they needed extra time and could not render pay until a pending tax credit payout from the state of Massachusetts– where many of the biopic scenes were filmed–was received. However shortly after Sony granted the extension, Anthem refused to sign a payment agreement citing contract issues with Black Label as the reason why an agreement could not be executed. has not made any substantial attempt to remedy the breach even after the film’s debut and box office gross sales that totaled ~ 60 Million Dollars. Anthem has also continued to distribute the recordings in connection with the film without Sony’s authorization across platforms, including a license with Netflix, outside of box office acclaim.
Following the film’s commercial success Sony sent letters to Anthem in August and October of 2023 regarding payments. Anthem’s lack of response and non-payment prompted Sony to pull out the big guns and file for an injunction under § 502(a) of the Act to prevent unauthorized usage of the copyright and further infringements. Under § 1498 of Title 28, a court may grant temporary or final injunctions to prevent or stop extended infringement of a copyright that has been deemed infringed by a violator. Sony is requesting ~3.6 Million Dollars in damages for the breach and infringement.
Anthem has not come forth with any statements and has not yet answered Sony’s complaint. Sony’s complaint adds to the budding list in film history of copyright infringements, often unintentional or intentional by for-profit film industry creatives and executives.