Beastie Boys member Michael Diamond aka Mike D has said that the band promised the late MCA that they would not make any new music after he passed away.
The member of the hip-hop group made the comments during the during the ongoing court case between the surviving members of the Beastie Boys against Monster Beverage Corp.
“We have not been able to tour since MCA, Adam Yauch, died,” Diamond said. “We can’t make new music.”
He told the court that he and bandmate Adam Horovitz aka Ad-Rock, told the late member of the trio they would not make any music without him, reports NY Daily News.
The case centres on a video created by the corporation which used five Beastie Boys songs in a “Beastie Boys Megamix” and flashed the message “RIP MCA” on screen. The late Adam ‘MCA’ Yauch stated in his will that his likeness or art, including his work with the Beastie Boys, was not to be used for advertising purposes.
Mike D also told the court that the band turned down a request to use their song ‘Sabotage’ on the Arnold Schwarzenegger film of the same which was released earlier this year. Mike D revealed that the band had been offered “a lot of money” so their song could be used on the soundtrack for the box office flop, but had turned producers down. “It felt like too much of an endorsement” said Mike D, adding: “We weren’t fans of Mr Schwarzenegger’s recent… work.”
Speaking about the Monster case, when asked if the band would have given permission for their work to be used in the promo, Mike D said: “Absolutely no”. The band are seeking $1 million (£600,000) in damages for the song licenses and another $1 million for the “implied endorsement” of being featured in the Monster video. The defence acknowledges they infringed on the Beasties Boys’ copyright but are seeking to pay $125,000 (£75,000) damages.
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Prior to Mike D’s appearance, Adam ‘Ad-Rock’ Horovitz of the band also took the stand at Thurgood Marshall Courthouse in New York’s Financial District and stifled smiles as he was required to explain, in some detail, rudimentary details about the music industry, including what a single is. At one point, a promotional image of Mike D, dressed in a boating outfit for Nixon watches, was shown to the court. Asked if it was Mike D wearing the sailor costume, Horovitz replied, apparently stifling a laugh, “He sure is.”
