GoldieBlox And The Beasties

GoldieBlox, a California-based company that makes a line of engineering toys for girls, spoofed the song from 1998’s Licensed To Ill that contains lyrics exhorting girls to “do the dishes … do the laundry … clean up my room.”

The toy ad depicts young girls singing about building spaceships and coding software.

The company filed a preemptive suit seeking permission after the Beasties threatened their own legal action for copyright infringement, a claim the surviving members deny.

“GoldieBlox created its parody video specifically to comment on 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 company’s lawsuit states.

Adam Horovitz and Michael Diamond responded with an “open letter” supporting the company’s goals, if not its promotional effort.

“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,” Horovitz and Diamond wrote. “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 appears to be backing down, posting a statement of its own that acknowledged the wishes of the late Adam Yauch and the other members but reiterating its claim that legal action had been threatened.

“Our hearts sank last week when your lawyers called us with threats that we took very seriously. … Since actions speak louder than words, we have already removed the song from our video. In addition, we are ready to stop the lawsuit as long as this means we will no longer be under threat from your legal team.”