Fact Check: Are Knicks & 13 other NBA teams facing lawsuit over copyright issues? Closer look at franchises facing legal battles

According to a report on Saturday, 14 NBA teams are being sued due to copyright infringement. Law360 broke the news that the Knicks and 13 other NBA teams will face lawsuits for allegedly posting videos on social media that used unauthorized music.

The complete list of teams are:

• Cleveland Cavaliers
• Denver Nuggets
• Indiana Pacers
• Atlanta Hawks
• Minnesota Timberwolves
• New Orleans Pelicans
• New York Knicks
• Orlando Magic
• Philadelphia 76ers
• Phoenix Suns
• Portland Trail Blazers
• Sacramento Kings
• San Antonio Spurs
• Miami Heat

The teams listed above are being accused of using copyrighted music on TikTok, Instagram, X, Facebook, and YouTube. This has led to Artist Publishing Group and Kobalt Music Publishing Ameria Inc. filing lawsuits.

According to the lawsuit, the NBA teams were aware that they were violating copyright laws. As such, each of the 14 NBA teams will have to defend themselves against three charges:

• Direct copyright infringement
• Contributory copyright infringement
• Vicarious copyright infringement

Looking further at the Knicks-Raptors lawsuit from last month amid talk of NBA teams facing lawsuit

In addition to the legal action the New York Knicks and 13 other NBA teams are facing for copyright infringement, the Knicks and the Toronto Raptors have also both been in court battling lawsuits of their own.

Last August, the Knicks filed for legal action against Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (Raptors team owner), claiming that their former employee stole proprietary information from their franchise before joining the Raptors.

The Knicks claimed that video coordinator Ikechukwu Azotam took over 3,000 files, including scouting reports and software with him after he and the Knicks parted ways. The Knicks notably accused Azotam of doing so at the direction of Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic.

As a result, the franchise decided to take the Raptors to court. In their suit, the Knicks also claimed that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was unable to offer an unbiased ruling on the situation given his close connection to Toronto chairman Larry Tanenbaum.

After the case went to court, Toronto pushed back, arguing that the situation should be settled by the NBA. On June 29, a federal judge ruled that the dispute was best left for Adam Silver to handle.

There has been no further information regarding how Adam Silver will handle the situation, with the latest development, Silver's hands are full given the copyright infringement lawsuit 14 NBA teams are facing.