Monster Energy + Scruples Don’t Mix? (Just Ask the Beastie Boys)

January 23rd, 2015. By LucyC

Beasties vs. Monsters. That’s a headline copyright infringement lawsuit circa 2014. And who won? Well the first round went to the Beastie Boys. But—their lawyers are heading back into the ring for round two. This time—over legal fees. Monster Energy—no stranger to lawsuits—was found guilty by a federal judge in Manhattan, of using the Beastie Boys’ songs without their permission to market their energy drinks. Take what you need and pay the piper later—if you need to? Nice. But it seems that’s the way Monster rolls…an appropriately named business.

The back story? The rappers from Brooklyn took Monster to court over the drink manufacturer’s use of five (FIVE!) of the group’s songs for a 2012 promotional video of an event called “Ruckus in the Rockies.” The video included the group’s 1994 megahit “Sabotage”. 

As anyone who follows the Beastie Boys knows, the rappers don’t shill. Let’s not even get into the fact that Monster didn’t ask BB if they could use the songs. Wait—there’s more—in an act of mindboggling gall, tastelessness, and just outright ‘profit where you can’, Monster added the words “RIP MCA” at the end of the video’s credits: Beastie Boys member Adam “MCA” Yauch passed away days before Monster’s marketing event. He died of salivary gland cancer at the age of 47. All of this without the Band’s knowledge (I’m guessing here) or permission.

So, the group sued Monster. They won. The jury awarded surviving band members Adam “Ad Rock” Horovitz and Michael “Mike D” Diamond, and the wife of the late Adam “MCA” Yauch $1.7 million: $1.2 million for unauthorized use of their songs and $500,000 after finding Monster liable for false endorsement.

Cut to present day—a second suit has been filed seeking $2.5 million in legal fees. According to The New York Post—one of the group’s lawyers said the firm and its associates performed 4,227 hours of work on the case at a “reduced” rate that ranged from $675 to $840 depending on each lawyer’s rates. The $2.5 million ask included nearly $100,000 in expenses the firm claims it spent representing the rappers.

The rapper’s lawyers summed it up this way: “Monster failed to engage in good faith negotiations to resolve this m​matter and repeatedly sought to increase the cost of ultimately litigating this matter.”

Monster has admitted wrongdoing but believes it should be liable for no more than $125,000, based on the video’s viewership. The company says only about 13,000 viewers saw the four-minute video before it was pulled off YouTube. They’ve been drinking the koolaid.

According to The Post, Monster’s lawyers filed legal papers urging the Judge to deny an injunction request by the Beastie Boys, saying Monster already removed the video and has no plans to ever show it again. Really—you think? How considerate.

Tags: Beastie Boys, Lawsuit, Monster Energy

This was posted on Friday, January 23rd, 2015 at 1:38 pm and is filed under Crazy Sh*t Lawyers See . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.