Use of Beastie tunes ‘dope?’ Nope, court says
Monster Energy Drinks contended that receiving “dope” in an email constituted permission to use a Beastie Boy master mix. A federal court in New York thought otherwise. Here’s the background: Zach Sciacca, know as DJ “Z-Trip,” created a master mix of Beastie Boys songs and made it available on his website for free download. DJ Z Trip had permission to publish this master mix. Monster is known for using hip-hop music and celebrities to market their product. In 2012, Monster reached out to DJ Z-Trip to request a song for a new promotional video. DJ Z-Trip sent them to his website to download the master mix of Beastie Boy songs he created. Monster then sent DJ Z Trip the video it created, which included the master mix; he responded “Dope.” So when Beastie Boys sued Monster for copyright infringement, the company sued DJ Z trip for fraudulently representing he had rights to provide permission to let Monster use the song. DJ Z Trip’s response to Monster? He asserted that “as a matter of law, he could not contract with Monster authorizing its use of the Beastie Boys recordings on his Megamix, because (1) he lacked apparent authority to issue a license for the Beastie Boys’ music and (2) his perfunctory exchanges with Phillips cannot be read to reflect agreement on material terms of such a license.” He sought...
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