Beastie Boys Continue Copyright Battle With Toy Company

Despite an earlier effort to broker peace between the Beastie Boys and a San Francisco-area toy company, the legal battle over a viral video that parodied one of the rap group's songs goes on.

In court papers filed on Tuesday, lawyers for the Beastie Boys said that a popular online video that was created by the toy company, GoldieBlox, and contained an alternate version of the band's song “Girls,” constituted “copyright infringement and is not fair use,” turning the band's music into “a ‘jingle' to sell GoldieBlox's products.”

GoldieBlox gained widespread attention last month for the video, which showed girls building a comically elaborate Rube Goldberg machine while singing about their engineering skills. The toy company says that its mission statement is to encourage girls to learn about science and technology.

In late November, GoldieBlox sued the Beastie Boys, seeking affirmation that the video was a legally permissible work of criticism, pointing out in its suit that the video “has been recognized by the press and the public as a parody and criticism of the original song.”

The Beastie Boys responded in an open letter that, though they were “very impressed by the creativity and the message” of the GoldieBlox video, the band considered it “an advertisement that is designed to sell a product,” and said that it does not allow its songs to be used in commercials.

A few days later, GoldieBlox posted its own open letter, saying it wanted to respect the band's wishes, and that the toy company had taken down the video.

In their counterclaim, filed in Federal District Court in California, the Beastie Boys' lawyers said the band members “have suffered injury to their business, good will and property,” and were “entitled to recover from GoldieBlox the gains, profits and advantages” it had obtained.

Daralyn Durie, a lawyer for GoldieBlox, said in a statement on Wednesday that her firm was reviewing the band's latest filing. She added, “Although the ad has been taken down and we would prefer an amicable resolution, we strongly believe that the parody constitutes fair use.”