Beastie Boys in GoldieBlox copyright battle
US rap band Beastie Boys has found itself embroiled in a copyright battle with a toy company over a song used for an online promotional video.
The hip-hop trio has allegedly complained about the unauthorised use of its Girls track on a video by California-based GoldieBlox, which makes construction toys for girls.
In a marketing ploy, GoldieBlox rewrote the lyrics to Girls and filmed three young girls singing the tune while making a Rube Goldberg machine.
The video has amassed more than seven million views on video-sharing website YouTube since it was released in November.
It is billed as a parody to the original 1987 track but, instead of using the lyrics in the Beastie Boys’ version, talks about how girls want to use their brains and are bored of receiving the same gifts.
GoldieBlox said that lawyers for Beastie Boys contacted it to claim that the video has infringed copyright, is not fair use and that the unauthorised use is a “big problem” that has a “very significant impact”.
However, on November 21, in a lawsuit filed at the US District Court for the Northern District of California, GoldieBlox claimed that its video is the “exact opposite” of the message from the original song and should be seen as a parody.
The two-year-old company is asking for the song be classified under the fair use doctrine and that a judgement of non-infringement is given for all uses of the video.
It is also asking that Beastie Boys, along with its record label Sony Music Publishing, producer Rick Rubin and former member Adam Horovitz be banned from issuing take-down notices relating to the song and video.
The lawsuit says the video takes “direct aim” at the original song, both visually and with a revised set of lyrics celebrating the many capabilities of girls.
“In the lyrics of the Beastie Boys’ song … girls are limited (at best) to household chores, and are presented as useful only to the extent they fulfil the wishes of the male subjects,” the complaint says.
It adds that the promotional video is “set to the tune of Girls but with a new recording of the music and new lyrics", adding that it has been “recognised by the press and the public as a parody and criticism of the original song”.
According to Jonathan Reichman, partner at Kenyon & Kenyon LLP in New York, the complaint raises interesting questions about what constitutes fair use.
“The complaint is stated in fairly traditional fair use terms, but what sets this case apart from similar cases is that this video is being done for commercial gain,” Reichman said.
“Fair use doesn’t preclude financial gain, but this would usually be in the context of the arts or an upcoming artist, not attempts to try to sell products for profit.”
Reichman added that although the case was hard to call, he could see Beastie Boys filing a response to the lawsuit, claiming not only copyright infringement but unfair competition.
“Advertisers recognise more and more the commercial gain of using music to sell a product and this could create problems if the song starts to become associated with that product,” Reichman told WIPR.
“Courts come from different perspectives on fair use judgements and I could see Beastie Boys responding by asserting other claims such as unfair competition.
GoldieBlox declined to comment on the complaint and Beastie Boys could not be reached for comment.
“It’s an interesting case. As all are in this area [fair use], they tend to be very close but I think commercial aspect here moves it into another realm.”
