Beastie Boys get $1.7M jury award in N.Y. copyright case against energy-drink maker Monster
6/5/2014NEW YORK — A New York City jury has awarded the Beastie Boys $1.7 million in a copyright violation case against beverage-maker Monster Energy Co.
The decision came today at a civil trial in federal court in Manhattan.
Monster had admitted wrongly using Beastie Boys songs in a video that was online for five weeks. But the beverage maker insisted it should owe no more than $125,000. The Beastie Boys had sought $2 million.
The trial featured the testimony of rapper Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz. He told jurors the legendary hip-hop group would never license songs to endorse commercial products.