Photo by Danny Clinch
After settling lawsuits with Pizza Hut and Home Depot last year over alleged misuse of their music in advertisements, the Black Keys are ready to go again. According to The Hollywood Reporter, last week, they recently filed a lawsuit in New York accusing casino company Pinnacle Entertainment and commercial advertising outfit Manhattan Production Music, accusing them of unlawful use of "Howlin' for You".
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the dispute is over two separate advertisements: the first, an ad for a Pinnacle casino, uses music "substantially similar" to the Black Keys song, while the second (for another casino) uses "infringing music." Pinnacle hasn't commented on the suit, but it appears the videos of the advertisements have been removed from YouTube. THR claims a casino rep Tweeted, "We bought a licensed musical interpretation of the song."
Read Eric Harvey's 2012 feature on the idea of "sound-alikes" in advertisements here, and watch the video for "Howlin' for You":