Beastie Boys is mulling suing start-up toy firm GoldieBlox for using its song "Girls" in an ad that has gone viral on the Internet.
Toy company GoldieBlox has created quite a stir with its video of three girls playing with a Rube Goldberg-type contraption and singing different lyrics to the tune of Beastie Boys' song "Girls."
The video was posted on Monday, November 18, and has since gone viral raking in more than seven million views The 2-minute video focuses on how young girls are more than "princess maids" and have other interests as well, including pursuing scientific careers.
Legal representatives of the Beastie Boys are now accusing GoldieBlox of copyright infringement and are threatening legal action. However, GoldiBlox is insistent that the parody of the song amounts to fair use and is not an infringement of copyright. GoldieBlox, which sells sophisticated toys for girls, has requested declaratory relief in a California federal court and demanded judgment to protect itself from a lawsuit.
The lawsuit filed on Thursday, November 21, by GoldieBlox reveals that "the Beastie Boys have now threatened GoldieBlox with copyright infringement. Lawyers for the Beastie Boys claim that the GoldieBlox Girls Parody Video is a copyright infringement, is not a fair use and that GoldieBlox's unauthorized use of the Beastie Boys intellectual property is a 'big problem' that has a 'very significant impact.'"
In the original song, the Beastie Boys lyrics were: "Girls -- to do the dishes/ Girls -- to clean up my room/ Girls -- to do the laundry/ Girls -- and in the bathroom/ Girls, that's all I really want is girls."
The GoldieBlox video replaces the lyrics with: "Girls -- to build the spaceship/ Girls -- to code the new app/ Girls -- to grow up knowing/ That they can engineer that/ Girls. That's all we really need is girls."
Per the lawsuit filed, GoldieBlox "created its parody video with specific goals to make fun of the Beastie Boys song, and to further the company's goal to break down gender stereotypes and to encourage young girls to engage in activities that challenge their intellect, particularly in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math. The GoldieBlox Girls Parody Video has gone viral on the Internet and has been recognized by the press and the public as a parody and criticism of the original song."
Check out the parody of the song by GoldieBlox below.
