This is a story of the importance of the right “to say no” to the use of ones copyright, as the late Adam Yauch.
Michael “Mike D” Diamond, Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz and the estate of the late Adam “MCA” Yauch sued Monster Energy Corp for a clear copyright infringement. The claimants are the legendary rap/rock band known by the name Beastie Boys, a combination of about 26 songs performed by the beastie boys amongst were “Sabotage”, “So Whatcha Want” and “Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun”, the mash-up had been used by Monster Energy Corp as part of a promotional video without the consent and licensing to the music copyright.
Among various violations of intellectual property sued by the band, damages and copyright infringement are the main claims which have been recognized by court.
On June, 2014 it has come to the public that The Beastie Boys have been awarded for $1.7 million in court after the violating use. The money will be divided among the band members and the estate of the late Adam “MCA” Yauch.
Monster claimed it had been merely an honest employee mistake and requested to reconcile for $125,000, the court ruled otherwise. The Beastie Boys are expected to receive some remuneration for the infringement, but the “RIP MCA” written will which states that he will not allow any use of the band’s songs in ads could probably turn the amount of awarded damages ever more in The Beastie Boys’s favor.
