The Beastie Boys have spoken out against a lawsuit which alleges that they illegally sampled music from other artists on their first two albums, denying that there is any "substantial similarity" between samples on Licence To Ill and Paul's Boutique to music released by the band Trouble Funk.
TufAmerica, the label who backs Trouble Funk, filed the lawsuit back in May, just one day before the death of Beastie Boy Adam Yauch, alleging copyright infringement, unjust enrichment, as well as various other terms due to the sale of records containing segments of Trouble Funk's music.
The Beastie Boys' response to the lawsuit claims that the two-decade gap between the album's release and the lawsuit is an attempt to "sidestep the Copyright Acts three-year statute of limitations" and that the samples in question are undetectable to the casual listener and only listenable "after conducting a careful studio analysis".
We'll have more on this when the judgement is made.
