The Beastie Boys have won a $1.7 million judgment in a lawsuit against Monster Energy Drink. The Boys argued that the company used their songs without permission in a mix by DJ Z-Trip, commissioned to promote Monster’s snowboarding competition, Ruckus In The Rockies. That mix appeared five days after the death of Adam Yauch, whose will specifically demanded that neither his likeness nor music be used in any advertisements. While Monster might not have been aware of Yauch’s wishes, it definitely still had to clear the tracks with the band—something the company claimed it did in a single-word email from Z-Trip, which just read “dope!,” making for some shaky legal ground.
Fortunately for the remaining Beastie Boys, a New York City judge agreed, awarding the group about 70 percent of the $2.5 million they’d originally sought. There’s no word on what Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz and Mike “Mike D” Diamond will do with the money, but it probably won’t involve purchasing mass quantities of any sort of extreme energy drink.