By Larry Neumeister
NEW YORK (AP) --The maker of the Monster Energy drink must pay $668,000 of the Beastie Boys' legal fees after the rappers chose to win at all costs in their copyright violation trial, a decision that resulted in a $1.7 million jury verdict in their favor, a judge says.
U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer wrote in a ruling Monday that his review of the band's legal bills suggests that the "Beastie Boys opted to pay for, and received, the 'Cadillac Escalade,' not the 'Honda Civic'" of legal representation.
He said his attorney fee award fell well short of the $2.4 million in legal fees that was sought from the Corona, California-based Monster Energy Co., but it was still sizeable enough that the band will come out ahead by more than $532,000 above its reasonable costs.
Last June, the Beastie Boys — known in part for the anthem "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)" off their 1986 debut album — won their verdict from a federal jury weighing the value of five songs used by Monster without authorization in a video.
Engelmayer wrote that the lawsuit brought by two surviving Beastie Boys and the wife of deceased band member and gravelly voiced rapper Adam "MCA" Yauch resulted in a hard-fought legal match.
"Presiding over trial and hearing the surviving Beastie Boys' testimony, it was apparent to the court that this case had great personal significance to them," he said. "Monster's commercial exploitation of the band's music and songs, and what the Beastie Boys perceived as Monster's crass misappropriation of the name of the recently deceased Yauch in its video promoting its energy drinks, appeared to have deeply offended plaintiffs."
Yauch died of cancer in May 2012 at age 47.
The judge said Beastie Boys' band members Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz and Michael "Mike D" Diamond approached the case "with special zeal," testifying that as a matter of principle they have not licensed their music for product advertisements and would have turned down Monster if it had asked for permission.
Lawyers for Monster and the Beastie Boys did not immediately return messages seeking comment Tuesday.
The Beastie Boys, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, have turned out four No. 1 albums and sold more than 40 million records as they helped bring hip-hop to the mainstream over the last three decades.
Sean “Diddy” Combs Is Arrested In NY After Federal Indictment
Sean "Diddy" Combs, the hip-hop mogul who has faced a stream of allegations by women accusing him of sexual assault, was arrested late Monday in New York after he was indicted by a federal grand jury.
The indictment was sealed and details of the charges weren't immediately announced by prosecutors, but the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, Damian Williams, confirmed in a statement that federal agents had Combs in custody.
"We expect to move to unseal the indictment in the morning and will have more to say at that time," Williams said in a statement.
Combs was arrested in a Manhattan hotel lobby, according to a person familiar with the arrest who spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
His lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, said Combs had been cooperating with the investigation and had relocated to New York last week in anticipation of charges being brought.
"We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the U.S. Attorney's Office," Agnifilo said, describing his client as a music icon and a "loving family man."
"He is an imperfect person, but he is not a criminal," Agnifilo said in a statement, adding "Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts. These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court."
The criminal charges are a major but not unexpected takedown of one of the most prominent producers and most famous names in the history of hip-hop.
The federal investigation of Combs, 58, was revealed when Homeland Security Investigations agents served simultaneous search warrants and raided Combs' mansions in Los Angeles and Miami... Read More