The Beastie Boys did some “money makin’, money, money makin’” in Manhattan federal court Thursday – to the tune of $1.7 million.
A jury awarded the legendary rap group $1.7 million, siding with the surviving members, Adam “Ad Rock” Horovitz and Michael “Mike D” Diamond, and the wife of the late Adam “MCA” Yauch in a copyright-infringement lawsuit against Monster Energy Drink.
“The message is we are happy, and we want to thank the jury,” Horovitz told reporters afterwards.
The group had sued Monster for sampling five of the Beastie’s songs — including its 1994 megahit “Sabotage” — without their consent for a 2012 promotional video pushing the company’s caffeine-filled drink through an event called “Ruckus in the Rockies.”
The band, which has a long history of not shilling products, also wasn’t pleased the video tried to profit off Yauch’s death by including the words “RIP MCA” at the end of the credits. Yauch had died days before the event, at age 47, after a three-year battle with salivary gland cancer.
As the verdict was read, an emotional Horovitz hugged his teary-eyed wife, punk rocker Kathleen Hanna. He also later embraced in court with Yauch’s widow, Dechen Wangdu. Diamond, who attended most of the eight-day trial, wasn’t present.
Lawyers for Monster said they’d appeal the verdict.
The jury deliberated a full day before awarding the Beastie Boys $1.7 million — $1.2 million for unauthorized use of the songs and $500,000 after finding Monster liable for false endorsement.
The Beastie Boys had sought a total award of $2 million.
Monster has admitted wrongdoing but believes it should be liable for no more than $125,000, based on the video’s viewership. The company says only about 13,000 viewers saw the four-minute video before it was pulled off YouTube.
The eight day trial was highlighted by Diamond testifying that the group turned down “a lot of money” from Arnold Schwarzenegger’s camp to use “Sabatoge” for the actor’s action flick “Sabotage,” which bombed at the box office in March.
“We felt it was too much of an endorsement, and we weren’t fans of Mr. Schwarzenegger’s recent…work,” he explained.