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$1.7 Million can buy a lot of Monster Energy drinks

Tobin Low Jun 6, 2014

The Beastie Boys have been awarded $1.7 Million in a case against Monster Energy Corp for copyright infringement. The disputed Youtube video, posted by Monster in 2012, featured several remixed Beastie Boys hits like “Sabotage” and “Make Some Noise.” Beastie Boys members Adam Horovitz “Ad-Rock” and Michael “Mike D” Diamond were on hand for much of the trial, having originally asked for $2.5 Million. While Monster claims that it was an internal mistake — claiming an employee thought the company had permission to use the music — the jury still sided with the Boys, awarding them an amount significantly above the $125,000 initially offered by Monster.

The Beastie Boys have long opposed the use of their music in advertisements. The group’s Adam Yauch, who died in 2012, prohibited the use of his music in advertisements in his will.

And in case you were wondering, we crunched some numbers on what $1.7 Million looks like for all parties involved:

813,397

That’s how many Monster Energy Drinks you could buy with $1.7 Million

154,826

That’s the number of CD copies of “Hot Sauce Committee Part II” you could purchase with the same amount of money. “Make Some Noise,” one of the disputed tracks, comes from this album.

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