The Beastie Boys Court Case is a Joke

The Beastie Boys are literally laughing their way through their lawsuit against Monster. Will the judge and jury be as amused?

If they have any sense at all, they probably will be.

Here's the background: when Beastie MCA died, he left behind very specific instruction not to use the Beasties' music in advertising. The other members have been incredibly diligent about honoring his wishes, declining offers to sell Beasties songs and pursuing companies that do so illegally.

Like Monster Energy Drink, who used various Beasties songs in a promotional YouTube video.

Now they're in court, and, according to Spin, Ad-Rock and Mike D seem to be finding the defense's approach, well, rather amusing:

 According to Billboard, the Beasties' side snickered — to our eyes, understandably — when the defense lawyer told the jury, "You'll learn during the course of this case that 'dope' ... is a positive affirmation." And Horovitz cracked a smile or even laughed when explaining some of the basics of the music biz, like what is a single or how the Beasties go about coming up with their songs.

The oddest moment, though, might've been when the cross-examination countered the Beastie Boys' claim they don't license their music for consumer products, a practice that Horovitz reportedly described as "a form of selling out." The Monster lawyer showed Ad-Rock a photo of Diamond dressed up like a sailor for a watch advertisement. Asked if that was Mike D in the sailor get-up, a smiling Horovitz reportedly responded, "He sure is." Somehow, according to Billboard, Horovitz managed to stifle laughter when the attorneys brought a huge, blown-up version of the photo over to the jury box.

I don't know about you, but I want someone to sneak an iPhone video of this onto the internet. I love you, Beastie Boys.

Now, let's enjoy some Beastie videos: