Music Business Worldwide reports that Georgia musician Matthew Michael Hobbs, the creator behind Puppy Songs, filed two federal copyright lawsuits in Los Angeles on October 19 against Kroger and LG Electronics U.S.A.

Hobbs, who publishes songs about life with dogs on his @puppysongs TikTok account, claims each company posted a promotional video in March 2023 using his viral track 'Cheese Tax' without a license.

The song was first published on February 28, 2023, and according to the complaints became a 'global mega-hit' used in tens of thousands of user-created posts.

What makes this story surprising is that the brands are household names, not anonymous remix accounts.

MBW notes Hobbs has commercially licensed his songs to BarkBox, Purina, Petco, DoorDash and Earth Rated through negotiated agreements, so the complaints argue he knows exactly how licensing should work.

The filings say TikTok's Commercial Music Library lets businesses use cleared tracks, but 'Cheese Tax' was never in it. The complaints argue that corporations 'often bypass proper licensing arrangements by using unlicensed copyrighted audio in their commercial videos.'

MBW frames the suits as part of a wider wave, since Sony Music sued Kroger in August over hundreds of allegedly unauthorized uses in social ads.

According to Music Business Worldwide, Kroger's video went up on March 10, 2023, just ten days after the song was published, and drew at least 6,231 views before being removed in April 2026.

Hobbs says he only discovered it in December 2025, which his complaint uses to argue the three-year clock started at discovery.

The LG suit goes further, per MBW: LG allegedly reposted a video by creator @vito.the.boxer of a dog at an open refrigerator, then labeled 'Cheese Tax' as its own 'original sound' with the LG logo, forming the basis of two additional DMCA claims.

MBW reports each suit seeks statutory damages of up to $150,000 per infringed work, meaning a willful-infringement finding treating the recording and composition separately could top $300,000 per company before fees, plus the DMCA claims against LG carrying $2,500 to $25,000 per violation.

Beyond the money, the cases test whether brands can ride a creator's viral sound for free.

The pressure on TikTok conduct is real on both sides: Plan b.sg reports Singapore creator justjazzle was slammed as 'tone-deaf' for a haze-escape video and issued an apology, showing how quickly creator posts can draw consequences.