The AHL sued for $150,000 after failing to gain proper licensing

PUBLICATION

Tom Banks
September 28, 2024 (2:28 PM)

SHARE THIS STORY

The AHL is a crucial part of the hockey scene in North America, but now they are being sued for their use of music on social media.

While it's not as popular, the American Hockey League is a big part of hockey in North America and development for NHL players, with 32 teams providing plenty of entertainment and another home for hockey players to develop. Now however, they've found themselves in a tricky situation, as Rick Westhead has reported that the league is being sued by APM Music for the use of music from their catalogue without proper licensing.

APM Music are reportedly seeking up to $150,000 for every infringement, which has been listed in the photos below.

Given the money that the AHL earns through the NHL and being a professional hockey league in their own right, it's shocking that the social media teams of the league and their individual teams either weren't aware of how copyrighted music works or did not get the proper licensing to use such music. Westhead makes it clear in his initial report however that it wasn't every team to face the lawsuit, just the ones named in the post, but given the significant financial hit that $150,000 per post could cost the league, it's a huge situation.

The AHL are yet to publicly comment on the situation, and may not be able too given how sensitive the whole situation is, it's safe to say that this is a massive story to keep an eye on moving forward.