Behr Paint Sued Over Use of Rolling Stones' 'Paint It Black'

ABKCO Records, which owns the rights to the master recordings of the Rolling Stones up to 1970, has sued Behr Paint, alleging copyright infringement over the use of the group’s 1966 song “Paint It, Black” in one of its online commercials.

The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court, Central District of California, Southern Division, and obtained by Variety, alleges that “Behr, without ABKCO’s authorization, without compensating ABKCO, and for its sole commercial benefit, reproduced, distributed, publicly performed, transmitted, prepared a derivative work embodying, and otherwise exploited the ABKCO Recording in a commercial advertisement to promote BEHR’s products and business.”

It adds, “Behr is a sophisticated, multi-billion-dollar corporation that, upon information and belief