Beastie Boys Facing Lawsuit for Allegedly Sampling Early Tracks

2012-05-09

Story by Charles Ken

Beastie Boys are going to court over their first two albums

As if losing one of their founding band members to cancer last week weren’t enough heartache, the Beastie Boys are also getting dragged to court. The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that the day before Adam “MCA” Yauch’s passing, Beastie Boys and its music publishers and record group — Universal Music, Brooklyn Dust Music and Capitol Records — were handed a federal lawsuit in New York due to “alleged unauthorized use of copyrighted music” way back on the band’s first two albums. 

Specifically, in the lawsuit, TufAmerica states that copyrighted tapings of Trouble Funk’s “Say What” and “Drop the Bomb” were sampled and utilized without prior blessing on the Beasties’ 1986 debut, “Licensed to Ill,” and their 1989 release, “Paul’s Boutique.”

According to the Reporter, TufAmerica states that the Beastie Boys “purposely concealed the integration” of samples from “Say What” in “Shadrach,” plus samples of “Drop the Bomb” in “Hold It Now Hit It” and “The New Style” to the point that the organization just saw the alleged infringement lately.

TufAmerica is apparently suing for copyright infringement, misappropriation and unjust enrichment. Of course, since both of the albums were written and released over 20 years ago, there is the possibility of the statute of limitations has passing on TufAmerica’s suit.

In other Beasties news, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Coldplay paid tribute to Yauch and the Beasties over the weekend at their concerts. Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Keidis sported a “MCA” tee during the band’s show, while Coldplay’s Chris Martin sang a piano version of the Beastie Boys’ seminal chart-topper, “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party).”

 




Charles Ken
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