Beastie Boys hit with lawsuit - MSN Music News I'm no rock fan but this is going too far. Just days after a band member's death? C'mon!
WTF? License to Ill came out like 25 years ago! These guys are just getting around to suing them now? Pffftttt.... case dismissed.
I agree that it was just bad timing, but the suit itself is ridiculous. Like Bulk said, these aren't exactly new songs they're suing over. They've had 2+ decades, and only now decide they have a problem with the BB sampling their songs? Sounds like a clear attempt at a cash grab...
This is soooo getting thrown out of court.... Google "Doctrine of Laches" to see why..... Basically you can't wait to file suit to increase damages. But yeah, that is really stupid....
In 1991 or so, Biz Markie ended up in a lawsuit over uncleared samples on his latest album, and ever since then it's been required to clear samples in order to get an album released. However, the Beastie Boys first 2 albums were made before then, meaning they were breaking no laws at the time and were grandfathered in. If this suit were to win, it would be going against past precedent
When Does The Copyright Statute of Limitations Begin to Run? It's going to be tough to convince anybody that no one noticed the samples until less than five years ago.
I dunno. But either way, this is a sickening story. The band just lost a member for crying out loud and they're deciding now that they want a lawsuit?
