The legal battle between the Beastie Boys and toy designer GoldieBlox is intensifying, as the seminal rap outfit has counter-sued in a developing fight over an unauthorized parody of their song “Girls”.
It all started so innocently. GoldieBlox released an advertisement for their “Toys for Future Engineers” that showed a trio of girls rigging up a (legitimately cool) Rube Goldberg device. “Girls”, with its carnival instrumentals and shouted titles made a natural choice for a parody soundtrack:
One problem. Turns out you need permission to do that.
Especially with the Beastie Boys. The band expressed admiration of the commercial in an open letter, but also cited their strict policy of not allowing their music to be used in advertisements. GoldieBlox responded aggressively, preemptively suing the Beastie Boys to assert their right to use the song. While the two parties seemed to be working out their respective kinks, it’s safe to say now that the situation has escalated, as the Beastie Boys have responded with a counter-suit against GoldieBlox for copyright infringement.
More updates as this develops.
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