Beastie Boys threaten to sue toymaker for copyright after advert featuring their song Girls goes viral

 
Unimpressed: the children in Goldieblox's construction toy advert
YouTube
Rachel Blundy27 November 2013

American hip hop band the Beastie Boys have reacted angrily to the use of their song in a new toy advert and are allegedly suing the creator for breach of copyright.

Lawyers working on behalf of the New York trio claim their 1987 song Girls is being used for commercial reasons in the Goldieblox advert for construction toys which the band have not endorsed.

Toymaker Goldieblox has subsequently filed a pre-emptive lawsuit which argues its parody version of the song constitutes "fair use".

Lyrics in the now viral advert, which has already amassed more than 8million YouTube hits, state: "Girls build a spaceship/Girls code the new app/Girls that grow up knowing/That they can engineer that."

In the original, the Beastie Boys sang: "Girls to do the dishes/Girls to clean up my room/Girls to do the laundry/Girls and in the bathroom."

Watch the full advert below.

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