A $1.7 Million Mistake
Jurors awarded the Beastie Boys $1.7 Million for Monster Energy’s use of the band’s songs in a promotional video that aired in 2012. The video – for a Canadian snowboarding competition – used portions of two songs, “Sabotage” and “Make Some Noise.” The Beastie Boys sought at least $2 million in damages, asserting that the video’s use of copyrighted works was “absolutely egregious.” The band argued that Monster Energy wanted to benefit from the coolness associated with the Beastie Boys.
Monster Energy acknowledged that it infringed on the band’s copyrights but argued that the infringement was a mistake. An employee at Monster Energy thought that the company had permission to use the Beastie Boys songs. Monster Energy asserted that there was no “insidious corporate conspiracy” and that the band should get no more than $125,000.
Monster Energy plans to appeal the jury’s decision.
Sources:
http://www.mtv.com/news/1691549/beastie-boys-sues-monster-energy-copyright-infringement/
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/04/us-beastieboys-monster-bev-idUSKBN0EF2BK20140604
For more information on copyright infringement, visit our copyright litigation service page.
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