Sony Music Entertainment and nine affiliated labels filed suit against Kroger and 18 related entities on August 21, 2026, alleging at least 392 unauthorized uses of recordings in social media advertising. The defendant list includes 84.51 LLC, the data subsidiary that operates the grocer's retail media network.

The complaint, docketed as case 2:26-cv-09358 in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, was filed by Proskauer Rose LLP on behalf of Sony Music Entertainment, Alamo Records, Arista Music, Arista Records, LaFace Records, Provident Label Group, Records Label, Sony Music Entertainment US Latin, Ultra Records and Zomba Recording. Christina H. Kroll signed it. A jury trial has been demanded.

What separates this action from earlier label suits against retailers is not the volume of recordings but the theory of control. Sony Music does not argue that a few social media managers made isolated mistakes. It argues the infringement ran through a centralised advertising approval function, and it names that function's operator as a defendant.

The entities named

Nineteen corporate defendants appear on the caption, alongside Does 1 through 50. The Kroger Co. sits at the top as parent. Below it: 84.51 LLC, Dillon Companies, Ralphs Grocery Company, Fred Meyer Stores, Fred Meyer Jewelers, Smith's Food and Drug Centers, Roundy's Inc., Roundy's Illinois, Mega Marts, Ultra Mart Foods, Ultimate Mart, Shop-Rite LLC, Harris Teeter, Murray's Cheese LLC, Murray's LIC LLC, Relish Labs LLC, Kroger Limited Partnership I and Vitacost.com.

Several of those names are unfamiliar because they operate under banners rather than registered names. Dillon Companies runs Baker's, Dillon's and King Soopers. Smith's Food and Drug Centers does business as Fry's Food Stores. Roundy's Illinois operates Mariano's. Relish Labs is Home Chef. Kroger Limited Partnership I is Ruler Foods. A media pitch circulated with the filing listed King Soopers among the 19 named entities; the caption names Dillon Companies, and King Soopers is one of its banners.

The complaint allocates video counts by entity. Roundy's Illinois carries the largest single figure at a minimum of 99 videos across the Mariano's accounts, followed by corporate Kroger accounts with at least 76 and Murray's Cheese LLC with at least 70. Ruler Foods is credited with at least 30, Fred Meyer Jewelers with at least 21, Vitacost with at least 18, the Wisconsin banner operators with at least 16 collectively, Home Chef with at least 11, Murray's LIC with at least 9, Dillon with at least 4 and 84.51 with at least 3. Fred Meyer Stores, Harris Teeter and Fry's are each credited with at least one.

Those itemised minimums total roughly 360. The gap to the 392 uses cited in the preliminary statement is accounted for by content posted on influencer and third-party accounts, which the complaint treats separately.

Why 84.51 matters to advertisers

84.51 LLC is the wholly owned data science subsidiary that manages Kroger Precision Marketing, the network that sells targeted advertising to consumer packaged goods companies, agencies and publishers using Kroger's first-party purchase data. According to the complaint, 84.51 markets and sells advertising services through partnerships with Pinterest, Roku, The Trade Desk, Google and, on information and belief, TikTok.

Those relationships are documented. Kroger Precision Marketing joined Google's Commerce Media Suite in March 2026, bringing SKU-level conversion reporting into Display and Video 360, with MetaRouter and LiveRamp handling the server-side event routing and identity resolution. The network was an initial partner for Pinterest's Top of Search ads in September 2025 and one of six data partners in Roku Curate in April 2026.

Sony Music uses the network's own published process as evidence. Kroger Precision Marketing's Guidelines and Spec Sheets require Campaign Operations specialists to review creative and request revisions until it passes guidelines and receives formal creative approval before an advertisement runs. The complaint treats that as proof the parent holds actual authority to review, reject or modify all social media content posted by its subsidiaries. Facebook Page Transparency disclosures identifying CB and S Advertising Agency, a Kroger subsidiary, as responsible for the Kroger, Dillons, Ralphs and Food 4 Less pages are cited as further evidence of centralised coordination.

The practical consequence is a set of five counts: direct infringement against all defendants, vicarious and contributory infringement against The Kroger Co. specifically, and vicarious and contributory infringement against all defendants pleaded in the alternative, covering scenarios where agencies or influencers rather than the retailer created the content.

The willfulness argument

Statutory damages under 17 U.S.C. 504(c) rise substantially where infringement is found to be willful. Sony Music has built its willfulness case on documentary history rather than inference.

The Kroger Co. entered into at least fourteen licences with Sony Music between 2017 and 2025 for the use of recordings in advertisements, explicitly including terms for internet and social media use. The complaint states that Sony Music first put the defendants on notice as early as June 30, 2025, and continued issuing notices as its investigation identified further material. It also states that Sony Music repeatedly asked The Kroger Co. to enter a tolling agreement so that settlement discussions could proceed without prejudicing either side, and that the request was refused.

New infringing content continued to appear. The complaint cites material posted as recently as August 12, 2026, more than a year after the first notice. A majority of the identified videos remained available as of May 28, 2026, with some still live at the time of filing.

Kroger's own financial disclosures are turned into evidence. The company's annual report for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2026, filed on March 31, 2026, put advertising costs at approximately $1.18 billion for 2025. Sony Music's argument is that a company spending at that level, with in-house counsel and dedicated social media staff, cannot claim it lacked the capacity to clear music.

The 2020 holiday licence

The most concrete evidence in the filing concerns a single track. Sony Music granted Kroger a seven-week licence covering The Lovin' Spoonful's "Do You Believe in Magic?" for the 2020 holiday campaign, running from November 13 to December 31, 2020, across television, radio, internet and social media.

According to the complaint, seven Kroger-affiliated brands kept campaign videos embodying that recording publicly viewable after the licence expired, each with its own brand-specific version: City Market, Baker's, Dillons, King Soopers, Fry's Food Stores, Pick 'n Save and Ralphs. One Fry's video was confirmed viewable as of February 3, 2026. The Ralphs version, the complaint states, remained viewable as recently as August 17, 2026, four days before filing.

That is a licence-scope claim rather than a no-licence claim, and it is harder to characterise as inadvertent. The material was cleared, paid for, and then left in place for more than five years past expiry.

Music selection as a media strategy

The complaint devotes considerable space to arguing that track selection was deliberate rather than incidental, which matters because deliberateness supports the willfulness finding.

Certain recordings recur. Outkast's "Hey Ya!" appears at least twelve times. Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" appears at least twelve times across at least six accounts, concentrated in late November and December. Bill Withers' "Lovely Day" appears at least seven times, Harry Styles' "Golden" at least four. Andy Williams' "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" appears at least seven times across holiday seasons between 2022 and 2025.

Release-timing patterns are also documented. Mariano's posted a video using Miley Cyrus' "Flowers" on January 21, 2023, nine days after the track's release and during the week it debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The same account used Harry Styles' "Music For a Sushi Restaurant" seven days after that single's release in August 2022, and Doja Cat's "Paint The Town Red" in September 2023 while it held the top chart position. Captions reinforce the point: a June 2023 post on the @krogerdfw account tagged "Watermelon Sugar" alongside copy promoting a watermelon-themed in-store event.

Influencer collaborations

The infringement claim extends beyond owned accounts. Sony Music alleges that paid influencers and content creators produced advertisements incorporating its recordings, and that the retailer's programmes gave it both knowledge and control.

The filing cites Home Chef's affiliate programme, which pays commission for each new customer who orders, and the Fred Meyer Jewelers programme, whose published terms require affiliates to follow brand guidelines and reserve the right to demand edits or removal within 24 hours of notice. Sony Music argues that commission tied to conversions creates a direct incentive to reach for high-engagement music.

Instagram's collaboration feature receives specific attention. Because a brand account must affirmatively approve a collaboration post before it appears on that account, the complaint treats each collaboration as evidence of review and approval of the complete post, audio included. Examples cited include a May 7, 2025 post involving Pick 'n Save, Mariano's and Metro Market with a creator account, and a May 6, 2025 post involving Kroger, Fred Meyer Stores and Ralphs.

One detail illustrates the knowledge argument. On a July 17, 2026 collaboration post using Justin Timberlake's "Summer Love," the Mariano's account left a comment echoing the recording's lyrics. The complaint treats that as demonstrating awareness of, and participation in, the content.

An April 2022 TikTok video promoting Home Chef carried an #ad tag and a discount code, which the complaint uses to establish direct commercial benefit.

This is the second distinct legal theory in recent months pressing brands on creator-generated content. In January 2026, a TikTok Shop dispute raised questions about brand responsibility for creator statements made under commercial relationships. European regulators have moved in parallel: Sweden's consumer agency documented persistent disclosure failures in a 2026 report, and Australia's competition regulator issued infringement notices over undisclosed commissioned influencer content in March 2026.

The audio library assumption

A recurring compliance failure sits underneath the whole case: the belief that music available inside a platform's audio picker is cleared for brand use.

The complaint sets out the platform terms in detail. TikTok's terms of service state in capital letters that no rights are licensed with respect to sound recordings made available through the service, and separate Commercial Music Library terms apply to commercial entities. Business accounts posting audio from outside that library must affirmatively accept a Music Usage Confirmation attesting to ownership, public domain status or permission from all necessary rights holders. Without it, the platform states the audio will be muted.

Meta's position is similar. Instagram has incorporated music guidelines prohibiting commercial or non-personal use without appropriate licences since at least April 2018, and directs commercial users to a separate royalty-free Sound Collection. Every video in the exhibit posted to Instagram or Facebook, according to the complaint, went up after that date.

The distinction is between a personal-use library and a sync licence. It is the same distinction that appeared in Sony Music's August 2025 action against Designer Shoe Warehouse, where the label alleged the retailer uploaded copyrighted recordings labelled as "original sound."

How the $58.8 million figure is constructed

The headline exposure number circulating with the filing requires scrutiny.

Copyright Check AI, a London-based vendor that audits brand social posts for unlicensed music and which distributed a release alongside the filing, calculates up to $58.8 million by multiplying 392 by the $150,000 statutory maximum per work. Its own footnote states that the result is a ceiling rather than a claim value.

There is a category problem in that arithmetic. The complaint identifies at least 392 unique unauthorized uses, not 392 unique works, and by its own account two recordings alone were each used at least twelve times. Statutory damages under 504(c) are awarded per infringed work, not per instance of use. The number of distinct recordings is therefore lower than 392, and a ceiling computed on the correct denominator would fall below $58.8 million.

Actual damages plus attributable profits under 504(b) remain available as an alternative election, and Sony Music has pleaded both routes. The complaint also invokes 17 U.S.C. 1401 for pre-1972 recordings and seeks a permanent injunction, an accounting, costs and fees.

The same vendor material contains a second inconsistency. Its press release states that four out of five audited brands carried findings material enough to warrant legal review, while the accompanying pitch and a quoted statement put the figure at 82%.

Liam Doolan, Founder of Copyright Check AI, framed the compliance gap in structural terms, saying "Kroger is not a company that lacked the budget or the legal function." He added: "The gap is almost never intent. It is that nobody owns the audit." The vendor sells the audit service in question, which is context for the framing rather than a reason to discard it.

The comparison set

Copyright Check AI positions the Kroger filing as the fifth label action against a major brand in under three years. Its list, with exposure figures calculated on the same per-work maximum:

  • Sony Music v. Marriott International: 931 alleged uses, up to $139.7 million. Settled October 2024, terms undisclosed.
  • Warner Music v. Crumbl: 159 works, up to $23.9 million. Settled 2026, terms undisclosed.
  • Universal Music Group and Concord v. Quince: 138 works, up to $20.7 million. Filed April 2026, active.
  • Sony Music v. Kroger: 392 or more uses, up to $58.8 million. Filed August 2026, active.

The uses-versus-works conflation applies to the Marriott entry as well, which is described as uses rather than works.

Why this matters for the marketing community

Three structural points emerge for media buyers, agencies and brand marketing teams.

The first concerns scope of liability. By naming the parent, the data subsidiary and seventeen operating entities, and by pleading vicarious and contributory theories in the alternative, the filing tests whether a centralised creative approval process converts organisational control into legal responsibility. Retail media networks that publish creative guidelines and require formal approval before campaigns run have, in this reading, documented their own supervisory authority.

The second concerns duration. Nothing in the complaint suggests the videos were removed after publication. The claim rests substantially on continued availability: a 2020 campaign video still viewable in 2026, a majority of identified content live as of May 2026. Organic social posts persist by default. A one-week campaign licence does not.

The third concerns the creator layer. Where an influencer selects the audio, brand exposure runs through mechanisms the brand may not treat as approval at all. Accepting an Instagram collaboration is a two-tap action. The complaint characterises it as review and endorsement of the full post.

The wider enforcement environment is hardening. Anthropic agreed to a $1.5 billion copyright settlement in September 2025, Universal Music Group settled with Udio the following month, and in July 2026 a Munich court set a 250,000 euro penalty per breach against Suno. Those are AI training disputes rather than advertising disputes, but they describe the same posture: litigate the boundary, then price it.

Kroger has not filed a response. The complaint notes that Vitacost.com, named as a defendant, was sold to iHerb in a transaction announced on January 8, 2026, and that the conduct attributed to it occurred while it was a wholly owned subsidiary. Sony Music states that its investigation is ongoing and that additional videos, including ephemeral content on Stories formats, remain undiscovered.

Timeline

  • November 13 to December 31, 2020: Seven-week Sony Music licence covers The Lovin' Spoonful's "Do You Believe in Magic?" for Kroger's holiday campaign
  • April 8, 2022: TikTok video promoting Home Chef carries an #ad tag and a discount code while using a Doja Cat recording
  • January 21, 2023: Mariano's posts a video using Miley Cyrus' "Flowers" nine days after release
  • June 30, 2025: Sony Music first puts the Kroger parties on notice of infringement
  • August 6, 2025: Sony Music files a comparable action against Designer Shoe Warehouse
  • January 8, 2026: Kroger announces the sale of Vitacost.com to iHerb
  • March 24, 2026: Kroger Precision Marketing joins Google's Commerce Media Suite with SKU-level reporting in DV360
  • March 31, 2026: Kroger's annual report discloses approximately $1.18 billion in 2025 advertising costs
  • April 2026: Universal Music Group and Concord file against Quince over 138 works
  • May 28, 2026: Majority of identified videos confirmed still viewable
  • July 17, 2026: Mariano's collaboration post uses Justin Timberlake's "Summer Love"
  • August 12, 2026: New infringing content posted, per the complaint
  • August 17, 2026: Ralphs holiday campaign video from 2020 confirmed still viewable
  • August 21, 2026: Sony Music and nine affiliated labels file case 2:26-cv-09358 in the Central District of California

Summary

Who: Sony Music Entertainment and nine affiliated labels, represented by Proskauer Rose LLP, against The Kroger Co. and 18 related entities including 84.51 LLC, Ralphs Grocery Company, Harris Teeter, Roundy's Illinois, Murray's Cheese, Relish Labs and Vitacost.com, plus Does 1 through 50.

What: A copyright infringement complaint alleging at least 392 unauthorized uses of Sony Music recordings in social media advertising posted by the retailer's brand accounts and by influencers it engaged. Five counts cover direct, vicarious and contributory infringement. Statutory damages of up to $150,000 per infringed work are sought, alongside injunctive relief, an accounting, costs and fees. A jury trial has been demanded.

When: Filed August 21, 2026. Sony Music states it first gave notice on June 30, 2025, and cites infringing content posted as recently as August 12, 2026, with a 2020 campaign video still viewable on August 17, 2026.

Where: The United States District Court for the Central District of California, case 2:26-cv-09358. The alleged conduct spans Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube accounts operated by Kroger banners nationwide.

Why: Sony Music argues the infringement was willful, pointing to at least fourteen prior licences between 2017 and 2025, approximately $1.18 billion in 2025 advertising spend, a refused tolling agreement, and continued posting after notice. For advertisers, the filing tests whether centralised retail media creative approval processes and influencer affiliate programmes convert organisational control into legal liability for audio selected at the point of posting.