On June 4, the Beastie Boys’ lawyer Kevin Puvalowski delivered his closing argument in a copyright infringement suit against an energy drink maker Monster. The lawsuit claims that Monster used portions of the band’s songs without a license in its 2012 promotional video.
With the members Michael Diamond or “Mike D” and Adam Horovitz or “Ad-Rock” present in the courtroom, Puvalowski urged the jurors that Monster should pay $2 million in damages for its negligence over its employees “stealing from the Beastie Boys.”
On the other hand, Monster’s lawyer Reid Kahn admitted that his client did infringe the band’s copyrights. However, he insisted that the decision to use the songs was based on the understanding that Monster had obtained a permission. The alleged permission was from DJ Z-Trip who produced a mash-up mix of Beastie Boys songs which Monster used in the video. When Monster submitted the video to DJ Z-trip for his approval, he responded “Dope!”
In reliance of Z-trip’s response, the company decided to move forward with the video. Based on this fact, Monster had filed a third-party complaint against Z-trip for the misrepresentation of his authority to give permission. The complaint was dismissed as “no reasonable person could understand Z-trip to have granted Monster the rights.” Kahn argued Monster had no intention to infringe on the band’s copyrights and asked to award no more than $125,000.
After being notified of its infringement in June 2012, Monster removed the video which was available online. Nevertheless, the Beastie Boys filed the suit in August 2012.
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