(EXCLUSIVE) Beastie Boys Score $667k Legal Victory Against Monster Energy Drink

The jury eventually sided with Beastie Boys and awarded them 1.2 million for unauthorized use of the songs and 500k for the energy drinks company being liable for false endorsement.

Then on January 15th, the band filed documents in the case demanding Monster be ordered to pay their legal bill of $2,389,941.

The members explained that they attempted to settle the case before it went to trial and demanded 3.2 million – which was based on previous fees of 800k for single use licenses and they multiplied that by 8 due to the amount of songs in the Monster promo video – but the energy company didn’t even show up to mediation.

Beastie Boys stated that while they have had a successful career, Monster pulls in billions yearly from sale. They said that they cannot make as much money as they used to, due to them not being able to record or tour due to the death of their band mate Adam Yauch aka MCA. They claimed that they have a policy to refrain from licensing their music for us in commercial advertising, which has limited their income over the years.

The band pleaded with the judge to consider how rich Monster really is when making his decision on whether to award them the 2.3 mill + in legal fees.

Then on June 15th, the federal court judge came back with his decision on the motion for attorney fees. He states that he believes the Beastie Boys deserve a total of $667,849 in attorney fees for having to fight Monster Energy in court over the unlicensed use of their music.

The order says if the band was not awarded attorney fees in the legal battle … even with the 1.7 million they won in the trial .. they would end up in the red a total of 135k

The judge says that if he didn’t award the band the amount it could scare other bands from suing companies or people who infringed on their copyrights due to the cost of the litigation

The judge slapped Monster Energy with the 667k bill for the Beastie Boys lawyer bills and the case was closed once and for all.

Photos: Instagram

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