Beastie Boys awarded $1.7 million in Monster case

Adam Yauch, Mike Diamond and Adam Horovitz of Beastie Boys

Jeff Kravitz | FilmMagic | Getty Images

A New York City jury has awarded the Beastie Boys $1.7 million in a copyright violation case against drink-maker Monster Beverage.

The decision came Thursday at a civil trial in federal court in Manhattan.

Monster had admitted wrongly using Beastie Boys songs in a video that was online for five weeks. But the beverage maker insisted it should owe no more than $125,000. The Beastie Boys had sought $2 million.

The trial featured the testimony of rapper Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz. He told jurors the legendary hip-hop group would never license songs to endorse commercial products.

—By The Associated Press