A legal battle over a parody video advertising a range of empowering girls' toys got a lot more complicated Monday, as the Beastie Boys fought back against accusations made by toymaker GoldieBlox.
It began last week, when GoldieBlox's ad "Girls," based on the 1986 song by the rap trio, went viral (at the time of writing, it had 8.3 million views). The video features three young girls building a Rube Goldberg machine while adding new lyrics to the tune. The original song described women as objects of desire and purveyors of housework; the GoldieBlox version described them as scientists and engineers.
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GoldieBlox won't reveal whether it contacted the Beastie Boys' management before the ad went live. But a source close to the situation told Mashable that the group's lawyer called the company directly and discussed copyright infringement "in a very threatening manner."
Thus, the company apparently felt it had no choice but to launch a preemptive strike in the form of a lawsuit asking a U.S. District Court in San Francisco to declare that it had the absolute right to produce a parody of the song.
The Beastie Boys' response was conciliatory but unmoving: They liked the message behind the parody, but made a firm commitment years ago that their songs would never be used in any advertising.
You can read the band's open letter in full, below:
Like many of the millions of people who have seen your toy commercial “GoldieBlox, Rube Goldberg & the Beastie Boys,” we were very impressed by the creativity and the message behind your ad.
We strongly support empowering young girls, breaking down gender stereotypes and igniting a passion for technology and engineering.
As creative as it is, 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.
When we tried to simply ask how and why our song “Girls” had been used in your ad without our permission, YOU sued US.
The issue before the court, then, is just what constitutes a parody and how far it can go in a commercial context.
GoldieBlox's preemptive lawsuit could be seen as a cynical way for a for-profit company to continue a controversy that is undoubtedly good for brand awareness. Then again, the company put its best foot forward in the lawsuit. The lyrics were compared side by side to demonstrate that Goldieblox had changed every single word except for "girls."

As for the two surviving Beastie Boys, you can sense their reluctance and bewilderment at the situation in that open letter. "Girls" belongs to the band's early era, before it did an about face with 1994's "Ill Communication." The song "Sure Shot" offered this apology:
I want to say a little something that's long overdue The disrespect to women has got to be through To all the mothers and sisters and the wives and friends I want to offer my love and respect to the end
But just as clear is the group's stance against their songs selling products of any sort. Here's what the band had to say in 2004's "Triple Trouble":
Cause I'm a specializer, rhyme reviser Ain't sellin' out to advertisers What you get is what you see And you won't see me in the advertising
Goldieblox has not officially responded to the Beastie Boys' open letter yet. If and when they do, we will update this story.
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Image: Astrid Stawiarz, Getty Images Entertainment