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The dessert company Crumbl Cookies, known for its rotating cookie menu and online attention through social media followers, has entered legal problems.
A US District Court in Utah received the complaint on April 22, 2025, which stated that Crumbl incorporated at least 159 WMG recordings and compositions in promotional TikTok and Instagram videos addressing its 9.8 million and 6.1 million follower bases, respectively.
The company was using the recording without securing proper commercial licensing rights, which included major artists, including Dua Lipa, Bruno Mars, Lizzo, Taylor Swift and Mariah Carey, Ariana Grande, and Beyoncé.
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The lawsuit states:
“Defendants have misappropriated at least 159 of the most popular and valuable sound recordings and musical compositions in the market, using those creative works to build Defendants’ brand profile and drive massive sales to Defendants without any compensation to Plaintiffs."
Warner Music Group (WMG) claims over $150,000 in statutory damages as its request for compensation, which could extend over $20 million in damages. WMG maintains that the licenses held by TikTok for user-generated content do not encompass business accounts or commercial promotional activities of companies such as Crumbl.
Crumbl Cookies: Background explored
The cousins, Sawyer Hemsley and Jason McGowan, founded Crumbl Cookies in 2017, in Logan, Utah, and turned the business into a leading dessert chain throughout the United States during a short period.
Crumbl Cookies began its operations from one store to establish more than 1,000 dessert locations throughout the U.S. and Canada. The cookie brand achieved their major success through their daily menu system of oversized cookies and their massive social media influence on platforms like TikTok, which have millions of followers.
Now, the brand battles a million lawsuit from Warner Music Group over alleged copyright infringement on TikTok. The Warner Music Group further contends that Crumbl's video content plays music from a popular sound recording through synchronization, stating:
“The audio track generally runs the full length of the Crumbl Videos and includes the most familiar portion of the sound recording and underlying musical composition, such as the hook or chorus.”
Two video examples include blueberry cheesecake cookies promoted with Lil Mosey’s Blueberry Faygo, along with yellow sugar cookies promoted by Coldplay's popular track Yellow. Warner Music presented additional evidence including Crumbl's video for their Kentucky butter cake that used BTS's song Butter.
“By working with popular influencers, Crumbl draws each of these influencers’ followers to Crumbl’s social media pages and to the Crumbl Videos. Crumbl recruits these individuals... to ‘collaborate’ with Crumbl, whereby participants are rewarded for promoting Crumbl products,” they added.
The lawsuit explains that Crumbl Cookies posted infringing videos by itself while establishing cooperative arrangements with social media influencers to make content promoting Crumbl products.
This lawsuit represents a turning point for social media marketing, particularly on TikTok, since brands need more clarity regarding content rights usage. As of April 26, 2025, Crumbl Cookies has yet to make any formal announcement about the legal actions taken by Warner Music Company.
