Beastie Boys countersue Goldieblox to demand revenue from toy sales

Still fighting for their right to, er… earn money from ads that use their music?

Beastie Boys have filed a lawsuit against toy company GoldieBlox requesting all revenue resulting from a YouTube advertisement that adapted the rap trio’s 1987 song ‘Girls’.

That’s right – despite the hip hop outfit’s stated desire to never permit their name or music to be used in advertisments, they still want to recover all the profits GoldieBlox may have made as a result of the ad for their toys, which encourage girls to learn about science.

Lawyers for the Beasties initially threatened GoldieBlox with a copyright infringement lawsuit, and the toy company filed their own suit claiming that the ad, which changed the song’s lyrics, constituted fair use.

The group’s new lawsuit, filed in a California court, claims the GoldieBlox video has caused “injury to [the group’s] business, good will and property”.

As such, the group is “entitled to recover from GoldieBlox the gains, profits and advantages [they have] obtained as a result of [their] wrongful conduct”, or an award of statutory damages for the alleged wrongful conduct.”

GoldieBlox’s lawyer, Daralyn Durie, said they were reviewing the new legal brief.

Beastie Boys’ previously clarified their stance via an open letter, maintaining that no matter how positive the message, the parody video still constitutes “an advertisement that is designed to sell a product”. [via Guardian]

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