Judge tosses DSW's pre-emptive copyright suit against Sony Music
A federal judge in Ohio has thrown out the portion of Designer Shoe Warehouse's copyright lawsuit that targeted Sony Music Entertainment, ruling that the retailer had raced to court to get ahead of an infringement case Sony was preparing to file.
Judge Michael H. Watson of the US District Court for the Southern District of Ohio granted Sony's motion to dismiss on 5 August 2026, finding that DSW's complaint was an "anticipatory filing" — a lawsuit filed first, in a different court, to head off a suit the other party was about to bring. Sony had argued in its dismissal motion that DSW had "sprinted to the courthouse" to get ahead of the expected infringement action, according to Law360.
The court invoked the first-to-file doctrine — a principle under which, when two courts are asked to hear overlapping disputes, the case filed first generally takes priority. Sony's own infringement suit against Designer Brands was filed on 6 August 2025 in the US District Court for the Central District of California, docket 2:25-cv-07285. DSW's declaratory judgment case, filed in July 2025 in Ohio, asked the court to rule that music the retailer used in social media posts did not infringe the labels' copyrights. DSW argued the tracks were covered by licensing deals between the labels and platforms such as Instagram and TikTok. The dismissal means that request now gives way to Sony's California case.
The ruling applies only to the Sony Music Entertainment defendants. DSW's claims against Sony Music Publishing, Universal Music and BMG in the same Ohio complaint remain before the court. The judge did not reach Sony's alternative argument that the Ohio court lacked personal jurisdiction over the labels.
The dispute has wider roots. On 1 May 2025, Warner Music Group affiliates led by Atlantic Recording Corporation sued Designer Brands in the same Ohio federal court, accusing the retailer of using more than 200 recordings and compositions in TikTok and Instagram posts without a licence. The Warner complaint listed tracks including "Up" by Cardi B and "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac, and sought statutory damages of up to USD $150,000 per work — a sum that could exceed USD $30 million across the tracks at issue, according to Music Business Worldwide. In 2022, a federal court in Florida granted Universal Music companies partial summary judgment on liability for direct copyright infringement in a related matter against DSW.
DSW, its parent company Designer Brands Inc., and footwear brand Topo Athletic filed their declaratory judgment complaint in July 2025, naming five rightsholders: Sony Music Entertainment, Sony Music Publishing, UMG Recordings, Universal Music Publishing and BMG Rights Management. In February 2026, the Ohio court allowed a group of independent artists and songwriters to file an amicus brief — a "friend of the court" submission from a non-party — taking neither side.
The DSW case is docketed as 2:25-cv-00765 in the Southern District of Ohio. DSW Shoe Warehouse, Inc. is represented by attorney Christina Hassel of Hahn Loeser and Parks LLP in Cleveland.
For brands that use popular music in social media posts, the ruling is a signal that filing first does not guarantee control of the forum. When a label's own infringement suit is already in the works, a pre-emptive declaratory filing may simply be sent back.
