GoldieBlox Copyright Infringement Case

Recently, I have been closely following GoldieBlox, a toy company that focuses on making a product that will inspire young girls to become engineers. Their product, called GolideBlox and the Spinning Machine, features a book about a female engineer who wants to build a machine to help her dog chase his tail. The reader can then build the machine that Goldie is working on in the story. Personally, I think it is a great product that can really empower girls from a young age, which is why I purchased this toy for my little sister for her birthday.

GoldieBlox and the Spinning Machine

In the past few weeks, GoldieBlox has created a viral music video which gained millions of views. The video featured a Rube Goldberg machine made entirely of the traditional pink toys usually meant for girls. Playing in the background was a rewritten version of the Beastie Boys’ song “Girls”. Here is an example of the lyrics:

“You like to buy us pink toys
And everything else is for boys
And you can always get us dolls
And we’ll grow up like them, false.
 It’s time to change
We deserve to see a range
Cause all our toys look just the same
And we would like to use our brains” 

Since the video was posted, the Beastie Boys have filed a complaint against GoldieBlox for copyright infringement since the company did not request permission to rework the song. The primary issue with the use of the song is that the music video can be considered an advertisement for the product, although it does not show the product until the very end. To avoid a lawsuit, GoldieBlox removed the video from YouTube and replaced it with another without the controversial song.

If you would like to see the new video, you can see it here: