Well, this is a little different. Usually when companies want to use someone’s music in a commercial but can’t, they just use it anyway without their permission or, more often, hire another article to come up with a sound-a-like of the original. But in Tennis’ case, they went through all the necessary hoops and signed a licensing deal and everything! And now they’re not getting paid. The band took to social media to explain their situation. According to them, they signed a contract with Turkish hotel chain Marmara to use their song “Marathon” in one of their commercials and they were never paid. “Even though we used a lawyer and signed contracts we have no recourse aside from an expensive lawsuit we may never win,” they wrote. Here’s the band’s full explanation:

Last year we licensed a song to @Marmara_Matt Hotels for what is a lot of money to us. They broke our contract, exploited our music and refuse to pay! Even though we hired a lawyer (which cost us money) and signed a contract, we have no recourse outside of an expensive lawsuit we may never win. Our only tool is our voice.

Commercial licensing accounts for the majority of our income. This isn’t a fact I’m proud of but it is the only way we are able to make a living. When corporations like Marmara Hotels refuse to compensate artists, they are tacitly claiming that our work has no value, and that they can build their brand on our backs at no cost to themselves.

We have accepted the fact that we may never get this money but I won’t let them skip off into the sunset playing our song in the background with their reputation unscathed. Not a chance.

-Alaina Moore of Tennis

And here’s the offending advertisement:

Not cool, Marmara!