Life is pretty strange, boys and girls. The Beastie Boys had taken notice of feminist toy company GoldieBlox’s use of their 1987 smash hit song “Girls” in a new commercial, a clear case of copyright infringement, and inquired last week about its use. To their surprise, GoldieBlox filed a lawsuit against them on Friday, preemptively going on the attack.
Beastie Boys have since penned a letter to the company, explaining that they were “impressed by the creativity and the message” of the GoldieBlox video, adding, “We strongly support empowering young girls, breaking down gender stereotypes and igniting a passion for technology and engineering.” However, they explain, “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.”
More specifically, Adam ‘MCA’ Yauch explicitly prohibited of his music in advertisements, as written in his will. 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.”
The letter continued, reaching incredulity: “When we tried to simply ask how and why our song ‘Girls’ had been used in your ad without our permission, YOU sued US.”
GoldieBlox lawyers see no wrongdoing, arguing that the video falls under fair use since. It was intended “specifically to comment on the Beastie Boys song, and to further the company’s goal to break down gender stereotypes… [the video] has been recognized by the press and the public as a parody and criticism of the original song.”
But lets be real about this. It’s a commercial specifically to sell a product. There are far better ways to “parody” a song while attempting to “break down gender stereotypes” than to do it during a product pitch. So while GoldieBlox continues their quest to Nerf the world and have everyone wear matching grey androgynous uniforms, they may have to take another route on this particular ad. Especially if they’re hoping to provide young girls with a genuine path of legitimate independent thought, rather than jackin’ a creation made by boys to get people interested.
Your move, toddler feminists!
