After getting into a very public legal fight with the Beastie Boys, toymaker GoldieBlox has removed the song "Girls" from their viral commercial hit, "Princess Machine."
"We want you to know that when we posted the video, we were completely unaware that the late, great Adam Yauch had requested in his will that the Beastie Boys songs never be used in advertising. … We would like to respect his wishes and yours." (Via GoldieBlox)
They continued their open letter, writing the company is prepared to drop their lawsuit… even though the company still believes the original video falls under fair use.
AdWeek calls it a classic sorry/not sorry in the wake of a major PR misstep.
"It's basically a passive-aggressive non-apology, casting the Beastie Boys as bullies and GoldieBlox as the victim—and also, irritatingly, the bigger person. The company suddenly doesn't want to fight a legal battle, even though it started one. And it wants to be friends, even though it's spent a week trying to be enemies."
The company’s lawsuit became one of the media’s top stories this week, after they preemptively sued the group for the right to use the 80s hit in their hugely successful viral ad, which garnered more than eight million views in a matter of days. (Via ABC)
As of Thursday, the lyricless video’s view count hovered just above 5,000 — a tough pill to swallow and, as one Forbes writer points out, a pill the company may not have had to take. (Via YouTube / GoldieBlox)
"​Part of the phrasing was added by Yauch in his own writing – something tax and estate planning lawyers … advise against since handwritten additions, called interlineations, often cause complications and can, in some instances, invalidate an entire will."
And the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an organization that focuses on the treatment of property intellectual and other cyberspace rights, sided with GoldieBlox, saying the company's use of the song was "what fair use was intended for. And its part of what made the Beastie Boys great."
GoldieBlox is a finalist in a contest to have the now-lyricless “Princess Machine” air during the 2014 Super Bowl.
