Well that didn't take long. Only yesterday we talked about the details of Adam Yauch's will which basically stated making use of any Beastie Boys song, likeness, etc verboten. . And now, the news comes in via Pitchfork and and Variety that The Beasties are suing Monster Energy Drink for doing just that. Yup, it's copyright infringement time.
In this case, Monster used their likenesses and a whole buncha music in promotional videos without consent for some stupid festival up in Canada called Ruckus in The Rockies. . Because all energy drinks require a music festival. Right? What else would you do with all that pent-up energy besides extreme sports and listening to bro-rock?
Oh, and guess what? A quick google search shows that Ruckus In The Rockies, is also the name of a quaint Jack Russell Terrier doggie shindig that has been happening in Denver since 2010. A full year before Monster used the name.
Doggie dudes!!! Copyright infringement is a problem for big and small entities. Get in on this lawsuit, stat!
Update: Call it table turning, call it karma, call it what you like, but the Beastie Boys lawsuit is interesting considering Monster is well- known for their copyright infringement lawsuits.
According to Wikipedia
Monster Beverage Corporation has been criticized for its policy to sue companies or groups which use the word "Monster" or the letter "M" in their marketing for copyright infringement. Examples include the aquarium hobbyist site MonsterFishKeepers.com a beverage review site which published an unfavorable review of the Monster Energy drink and a Vermont microbrewery which marketed a beer named "Vermonster". Monster Beverage dropped the lawsuit against the microbrewery due to the negative publicity the lawsuit generated.
Monsterfishkeepers.com left a comment with us detailing Monster Energy Drink's lawsuit against them that had a link attached. Rather than simply add it there, we thought we'd give them a larger platform in this article.
Do you think the logos below are similar enough to warrant a big ol' energy drink company going all hard core on some fish people?
Let us know in the comments.
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