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By John Glenday, Reporter

November 25, 2013 | 1 min read

Hip hop artists the Beastie Boys have allegedly threatened to sue a US toymaker for copyright infringement over their use of the 1987 track, Girls, in a viral video.

More than 8m people have viewed GoldieBlox’s Princess Machine video since it aired last week, which includes a parody of the Beastie Boys hit in an effort to promote its construction toys geared toward encouraging young girls to take interest in science, technology and engineering.

In a statement Beastie Boys lawyers said: “GoldieBlox's unauthorised use of the [song] ... is a 'big problem' that has 'a very significant impact'."

For their part however GoldieBlox argue that as their adaptation is a freshly recorded parody it is exempt under ‘fair use’ laws.

Beastie Boys GoldieBlox

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