According to Law360, the Cleveland Cavaliers are among an extensive list of NBA franchises being sued for supposedly stealing copyrighted music.
A whopping 14 teams in total — nearly half of all the squads in the NBA — are facing copyright suits: the Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks, New Orleans Pelicans, Denver Nuggets, Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves, New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns, San Antonio Spurs, Sacramento Kings, Portland Trail Blazers and Indiana Pacers.
The teams are accused of using copyrighted music in promotional videos on various media platforms. Each team is facing claims of direct copyright infringement, vicarious copyright infringement and contributory copyright infringement.
According to Law360, not every team allegedly stole the same copyrighted music. For example, the Knicks are accused of using music from artists like Jay-Z and Cardi B, while the Suns are accused of using music from the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears.
The Cavaliers had one of the more successful 2023-24 campaigns of any squad accused of using copyrighted music. After all, the team won 48 of its 82 regular-season contests, which resulted in Cleveland earning the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Later, the Cavaliers eliminated the Magic in seven games in the opening round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs. Cleveland did go on to lose to the Boston Celtics in a gentleman’s sweep in the second round, but Donovan Mitchell played in just three of the five games in the series against Boston.
Mitchell inked a three-year extension with the Cavaliers worth an excess of $150 million earlier this month, so fans of the team should feel optimistic about Cleveland’s chances of carving out more playoff wins this coming season and beyond.
It will be interesting to see how the Cavaliers’ legal situation evolves and if the franchise will face any sort of punishment. Here’s to hoping that the team’s legal troubles won’t serve as a distraction in the 2024-25 season when the ultimate goal is to win games.
