By FMC Policy Fellow Jordan Reth

The verdict is in—the Beastie Boys have won $1.7 million in damages from Monster Beverage Corp.

Back in August 2012, the band requested $2.5 million in damages for copyright infringement of several songs—along with false endorsement—all arising from a promotional video Monster made for a Canadian snowboarding event, “Ruckus in the Rockies.” While Monster conceded that it did infringe the Beastie Boys’ work, it claimed the infringement was an accident and that damages should only be around the $125,000 mark. read more