The complaint
GameChops, LLC v. Materia Music, Inc. and Materia Music Publishing LLC, No. 2:26-cv-03503 (W.D. Wash., Seattle), was filed September 18, 2026, ECF No. 1 (26 pages). GameChops, a video game music record label, demands a jury trial. The docket shows the case is assigned to Judge Ricardo S. Martinez.
The Mario & Chill album
GameChops alleges it owns the Mario & Chill sound recording, registered as SR 924-376; the Copyright Office public record lists GameChops LLC as claimant. It alleges it licensed the album to Materia Music in 2018, that a January 2021 settlement replaced that license with a five-year non-exclusive license that ended in January 2026, and that Materia Music, on information and belief, has kept selling the album on its online store since then while listing itself as the copyright owner.
The takedown campaign
GameChops alleges that a dispute over mechanical licenses for a 2025 album of piano covers of music from the Deltarune video game led Materia, which it alleges on information and belief controls the sound recording and publishing rights for that game's composer, to send takedown notices to several platforms. It alleges that beginning in early September 2026 Materia sent more than 150 takedown notices to YouTube, that YouTube removed the videos, that GameChops' channels received more than three copyright strikes, and that about 50 artists were affected. It alleges that many of the notices misidentified works or targeted licensed material, and that Materia also asserted rights in game character likenesses and a game trademark that, on information and belief, it does not control.
Claims and relief
The five causes of action are misrepresentation under 17 U.S.C. § 512(f) against both defendants; copyright infringement and false copyright management information under 17 U.S.C. § 1202(a) against Materia Music over the Mario & Chill album; unfair business practices under the Washington Consumer Protection Act against both defendants; and a declaratory judgment that GameChops has not infringed any copyright or trademark the defendants asserted. GameChops seeks injunctions barring further takedown notices and requiring withdrawal of the existing ones, an accounting, a constructive trust, damages, and fees.
On the docket
A September 28, 2026 order extended the defendants' deadline to respond to the complaint to November 3, 2026. On October 30, 2026, the court entered an order on a further stipulated motion that reset case deadlines.