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Beastie Boys Will Finally Publish Their Memoir - But Don't Expect An Ordinary Book Experience


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It's been nearly five years in the making, but the Beastie Boys are finally ready to publish their eagerly anticipated memoir, which remains as yet untitled. Surviving members of the group, Mike D and Ad-Rock, have been hard at work to get it on the shelves for the Autumn.

 Mike D and Ad-Rock of Beastie Boys pictured in 2013Mike D and Ad-Rock of Beastie Boys pictured in 2013

Fans were originally hoping for a release by Random House imprint publisher Spiegel & Grau back in 2015, but the book seemed nowhere near completion. Now, however, the '(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)' hitmakers are determined to apply all the finishing touches by the end of the year.

Continue reading: Beastie Boys Will Finally Publish Their Memoir - But Don't Expect An Ordinary Book Experience

Fight For Your Right: Beastie Boys Collect $1.7M In Monster Copyright Battle


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The Beastie Boys have been awarded $1.7 (£1.1) million in a case battling the unauthorised use of their music in adverts by the fizzy drinks brand, Monster. After some deliberation, jurors decided to order Monster to make a huge payout for its unauthorised use of the Beastie Boys' iconography and songs for in a 2012 YouTube video advert.

The damages are short of the band's requested $2 million but are far higher than Monster's suggested fine of $125,000. The drinks company admitted the infringement yet argued that it was an honest mistake.

Regardless, the jury awarded $120,000 (£71,000) for each of ten violations of copyright plus $500,000 (£297,000) after finding that the California-based company's ads had suggested a false endorsement of its products by using the band's image without permission.

Continue reading: Fight For Your Right: Beastie Boys Collect $1.7M In Monster Copyright Battle

Why Isn't The Beastie Boys Vs Monster An Open And Shut Case?


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The Beastie Boys have a pretty strong case against Monster Beverage Corp; the manufacturer and seller of caffeinated energy drinks is being sued by hip hop outfit for the unauthorised use of their songs, including "Sabotage," "So What'cha Want" and "Make Some Noise."

Beastie BoysThe Beastie Boys transformed in to Lego by Adly Syairi Ramly

Monster has admitted to using the songs in the 2012 promotional video for the annual snowboarding competition the company organizes and sponsors in Canada called the "Ruckus in the Rockies." They admitted using the songs and said it was a mistake.

Continue reading: Why Isn't The Beastie Boys Vs Monster An Open And Shut Case?

Beastie Boys Once Again Fight For Their Right... Copyright, That Is.


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The Beastie Boys are involved in another copyright lawsuit this week (the previous one against GoldieBlox ended in March with a settlement for an undisclosed amount). This time, the offending company is Monster Energy Drinks and, according to Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz of BB, it’s a repeat offence. The band also claim that Monster provided a link to a downloadable file of their music.

Beastie Boys Lego
You gotta fight for your right... to not have your music used without permission.

On Tuesday, Horovitz testified against Monster at Manhattan Federal Court, the New York Daily News reports. The musician claimed that the Beastie Boys have not and will never in the future allow their music to be used in an ad campaign.

Continue reading: Beastie Boys Once Again Fight For Their Right... Copyright, That Is.

GoldieBlox Removes Beastie Boys Song From Video To Avoid More Legal Disputes


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GoldieBlox has withdrawn the Beastie Boys song from their viral video to avoid a legal battle with the band. The Californian toy company, used their song 'Girls', with different lyrics, in a viral advertising video which showed three girls playing Rube Goldberg-inspired machine.

Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys didn't want any of their songs used for advertisement purposes

The lyrics were changed to demonstrate a message of empowerment but The Beastie Boys did not want any of their songs been used for advertising, GoldieBox filed a lawsuit claiming fair use but have now pulled the plug on the video.

Continue reading: GoldieBlox Removes Beastie Boys Song From Video To Avoid More Legal Disputes

The Beastie Boys Aren't Suing GoldieBlox After All, But Goldieblox Are Still Suing The Beasties


Beastie Boys Ad Rock Mike D Adam Yauch

GoldieBlox may have shot themselves in the foot if they wanted to appear as the victims in the ongoing saga surrounding their online advertising campaign that features the Beastie Boys song 'Girls.' After claiming that they are being sued by the surviving members of the rap group for copyright infringement, the company counter-sued, saying they had never infringed on any copyright. Now Mike D and Ad-Rock have hit back, saying they never sued anyone, but they're still facing a lawsuit.

Beastie Boys
Mike D, MCA and Ad-Rock all agreed that they would never allow their work to be used on advertising

As intially reported by The Hollywood Reporter, the two remaining Beasties have penned an open letter to the company, in which they commend the advert and the company for their creativity, before stating that they agreed years ago to never allow their music to be used for advertising and finally saying that they had only ever enquired how the video was used without their permission, insisting that they had not taken the issue to the courts. Goldieblox on the other hand have taken the band to court, filing a complaint stating they never infringed on any copyright laws.

Continue reading: The Beastie Boys Aren't Suing GoldieBlox After All, But Goldieblox Are Still Suing The Beasties

Toy Company Versus The Beastie Boys: The Copyright Saga Continues


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The viral GoldieBlox ad, which flipped a Beastie Boys song on its head is pretty admirable, but that doesn’t save it from violating copyright. This is what the Boys themselves claim in an open letter to the toy company, which to their credit, acknowledges the ad’s creativity and admirable message. The open letter was first released by the New York Times.

Beastie Boys
The Boys have objected against the commercial use of Girls.

“We strongly support empowering young girls, breaking down gender stereotypes and igniting a passion for technology and engineering,” the Beastie Boys explain. The message continues on a less positive note: “As creative as it is, make no mistake, your video is an advertisement that is designed to sell a product, and long ago, we made a conscious decision not to permit our music and/or name to be used in product ads. When we tried to simply ask how and why our song "Girls" had been used in your ad without our permission, YOU sued US.”

Continue reading: Toy Company Versus The Beastie Boys: The Copyright Saga Continues

Best Ad We've Ever Seen Turns Beastie Boys Sexist 'Girls' Around [Video]


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In the face of a generation of mute princesses, vacuous models, and shallow celebrities, toy company GoldieBlox have designed a range of fun yet challenging toys aimed to engage little girls with the world of construction and inspire them to consider the male-dominated professions of engineering and computing.

Beastie Boys
A Sexist Beastie Boys Song Is Turned On Its Head.

In the ad we see three little girls growing tired of the pink princess play on TV and turn to creating an elaborate Rube Goldberg machine, as popularised by music videos from OK Go and The Bravery, using stereotypically female toys.

Continue reading: Best Ad We've Ever Seen Turns Beastie Boys Sexist 'Girls' Around [Video]

Beastie Boys Biography – What Is A 'Multidimensional' Memoir?


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Fans of the Beastie Boys who were looking for an oral memoir from the boys will be very excited. Fans of the Beastie Boys who hadn’t considered that niche desire will also be pretty happy, as the New York rap group are releasing a ‘multidimensional memoir’.

We’re not going to pretend to know what that means. Perhaps the group's book agent, Luke Janklow can explain it better. "The first words out of Mike's mouth were, 'I don't want to do a straight memoir,'" he explained. "After Yauch died, I didn't push them," Janklow said, "but I think that Adam and Mike ended up realizing that it was the right time for them." The project has been in talks for yonks, but was put on the back burner when Yauch fell ill; he died aged 47 after a battle with salivary gland cancer. Julie Grau, publisher at the Spiegel & Grau said the boys are up for "challenging the form and making the book a multidimensional experience." We’re still not sure what it means, but at it’s marrow, we’re looking at an autobiography about The Beastie Boys, and that can never be a bad thing. The copy will be edited by hip-hop journalist Sacha Jenkins, and will feature a heavy set of visual stimulants for you word-shy folks.

Given the Beastie Boys have been appreciated in animation and now book form, we’re just waiting for that feature film to hit. Sources claim that the Palmetto Playground in New York will officially be renamed the Adam Yauch Playground this week in memory of the influential musician. A ceremony to usher in the new name will reportedly be held this Friday May 3.

Continue reading: Beastie Boys Biography – What Is A 'Multidimensional' Memoir?

No Ordinary Memoir: The Beastie Boys Plan Book Release For 2015


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The Beastie Boys are planning to release a memoir in 2015. However, fans of the band can rest assured that this won’t be some old fashioned straight-up linear history of the Beastie Boys. No sir. Instead, it’s expected that the book will take on a similar style to the band’s short-lived Grand Royal magazine that they launched in the 1990s, “which explored some of its wide-ranging pop-culture interests with curiosity and snark,” New York Times reports.

The book will be published by Spegel & Grau, an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group and is intended to celebrate not only the band’s history but also their visual aesthetic and the way that that has altered throughout the decades. A spoekesperson for the publishers said that the surviving members of the band are “interested in challenging the form and making the book a multidimensional experience… There is a kaleidoscopic frame of reference, and it asks a reader to keep up.” Adam Yauch, also known as MCA died last year, aged 47, after suffering from cancer of the salivary gland. He is survived by Michael Diamond (Mike D) and Adam Horowitz (Ad-Rock).

Contributing to the book will be the hip-hop journalist Sacha Jenkins and it will be loosely constructed around an oral history of the band’s existence. There will also be contributions from other writers, in addition to the book having a strong ‘visual component.’ 

Continue reading: No Ordinary Memoir: The Beastie Boys Plan Book Release For 2015

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