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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
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Rock Band Sues Christian Evangelists

DALLAS (CN) - Texas rock band This Will Destroy You sued the Christian evangelical campaign I Am Second, accusing it of using the band's music without permission in a TV ad campaign.

Band members Jeremy Galindo, Christopher King and Raymond Brown sued E3 Partners Ministry, Audio Post Group LP, musician Brad Dale and ad firm Ditore-Meo Entertainment Co., in Federal Court.

They band claims defendant nonprofit ministry is behind the as campaign, which features video clips of celebrities sitting in a white chair in a dark space, telling stories of adversity and triumph through their faith.

The plaintiffs claim E3 has annual revenue of more than $17 million and that the ad campaign has received more than 1.5 billion media impressions worldwide.

"Defendants did not seek, much less pay for, licenses from plaintiffs," the lawsuit states. "Instead, they appropriated plaintiffs' works, in whole, made them available to the world on the Internet, and sold videos using them through both online and brick-and-mortar retailers. To this day, despite e3's extraordinary economic performance, defendants have paid nothing to plaintiffs for such uses or sales, which are ongoing."

The plaintiffs say defendant Dale works for sound recording firm Dallas Audio Post, which works on the campaign with defendant Ditore-Meo. They claim Dale is familiar with their work because played in a band that opened for We Will Destroy You.'

"Dale is definitely familiar with the band and its music," the complaint states. "He claims to have performed 'original music composition for the "I Am Second" campaign.' Dallas Audio Post, for its part, claims to have performed the 'sound design,' 'musical score' and 'final mix' of the campaign for its client, Ditore-Meo."

The plaintiffs claim 10 videos produced by the defendants use their band's recordings or "sound-alike" versions, without authorization. The videos feature Daytona 500 winner Darryl Waltrip, Los Angeles Angels outfielder Josh Hamilton, former Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy and actress Janine Turner, among others.

None of the celebrities are parties to the complaint.

E3 did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Based in San Marcos, Texas, This Will Destroy You says its instrumental music is "cinematic-feeling," hence its appeal as background music.

The band claims it earns "tens of thousands of dollars in licensing revenue" for limited uses of its songs, which it has have been featured in Olympic, Super Bowl and Academy Award broadcasts.

They seek damages for copyright infringement.

They are represented by David Lein with Graves Dougherty in Austin.

Follow @davejourno
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