The Beastie Boys are fighting for their right to not be called “sellouts.”
The two surviving members of the legendary rap trio, Adam “Ad Rock” Horovitz and Michael “Mike D” Diamond, were in Manhattan federal court Tuesday as their $2 million copyright-infringement lawsuit against Monster Energy Drink got underway.
Horovitz took the witness stand to voice the group’s displeasure over Monster sampling five of the Beastie’s songs — including its 1994 megahit “Sabotage” — without their consent for a 2012 promotional video pushing the company’s caffeine-filled drink through an event called “Ruckus in the Rockies.”
He said Monster never contacted the three-decade-old group about using its songs — and that the Beastie Boys would’ve never agreed because the rappers have always had a policy of not promoting commercial products.
When asked why, Horovitz said, “As musicians, where we come from, it is a form of selling out to the products.”
The May 2012 video suggested the Beastie Boys were personally involved in the event. It featured the words “RIP MCA” at the end of the credits in honor of founding member Adam “MCA” Yauch, who had died days before the event, at age 47, after a three-year battle with salivary gland cancer.
Yauch’s widow, Dechen Wangdu, is also a plaintiff in the litigation and attended the hearing. His will said he didn’t want his image used in any ads.
Paul Gearity, the Beastie Boys lawyer, charged in his opening statement that Monster “promoted the death of Adam Yauch.”
The beverage company’s lawyer, S. Reed Kahn, said Monster admits mistakenly using the songs because of a misunderstanding — and agrees that the Beastie Boys should be compensated.
But he said only about 13,000 viewers saw the four-minute video before it was pulled off You Tube. He said a licensing expert would testify that the group, therefore, should be compensated no more than $125,000, based on viewership.
Referring to the $2 million the Beastie Boys are seeking, he said, “Those numbers were pulled out of a hat.”
The group last year sued a toy company called GoldieBlox for using a parody of their 1987 track “Girls” for a commercial. That matter was settled out of court.
Horovitz will return to the witness stand Wednesday to be cross-examined. Diamond will take the stand at a later date, lawyers said.