Fight for your rights.

Whilst it was announced on Saturday that educational toy company GoldieBlox were being sued by the Beastie Boys for their usage of ‘Girls’ in a new viral video, the Beastie Boys’ have now replied with an open letter clarifying their stance and explained that it was GoldieBlox who started the legal battle, not them.

Explaining that they “strongly support empowering young girls, breaking down gender stereotypes and igniting a passion for technology and engineering,” the open letter goes on to say that the viral vid is “an advertisement that is designed to sell a product” and that they had made  “a conscious decision not to permit our music and/or name to be used in product ads.”

Basically, GoldieBlox are arguing that their advert is a piece of art and should be classified as a “fair use” of the Beastie Boys’ track, and the lawyer for the Beasties disagrees. You can read the open letter in its entirety below. [via New York Times]

Like many of the millions of people who have seen your toy commercial “GoldieBlox, Rube Goldberg & the Beastie Boys,” we were very impressed by the creativity and the message behind your ad.

We strongly support empowering young girls, breaking down gender stereotypes and igniting a passion for technology and engineering.

As creative as it is, make no mistake, your video is an advertisement that is designed to sell a product, and long ago, we made a conscious decision not to permit our music and/or name to be used in product ads.

When we tried to simply ask how and why our song “Girls” had been used in your ad without our permission, YOU sued US.