The Beastie Boys have issued an open letter the GoldieBlox stating they were “impressed by the creativity and the message” of the GoldieBlox video, adding that they “strongly support empowering young girls, breaking down gender stereotypes, and igniting a passion for technology and engineering.” However, the group continues, “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.”
This statement was written after GoldieBlox had filed a lawsuit against the Beastie Boys saying that their song was a parody, which makes it free from copyright infringement statutes.
According to Consequence of Sound, “Adam ‘MCA’ Yauch banned usage of his music in advertisements. It read: ‘Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, in no event may my image or name or any music or any artistic property created by me be used for advertising purposes.'” in his will.
Is the song in the commercial from GoldieBlox a parody? Yes, absolutely. But they are using the music written by the Beastie Boys to sell a product. If GoldieBlox wasn’t looking to sell a product there would be nothing wrong here. But they are advertising a product and I think the Beastie Boys have a right to ask that their song to be removed from the video.
