Rappers the Beastie Boys have filed suit against bosses of the toy company behind the video parody of their Girls hit, insisting the quirky online promo infringes on their copyright.

GoldieBlox executives used the New York hip-hop trio's track for an online ad without permission, and after weeks of cease and desist letters and promises to take the video down, the matter appears to be heading to trial.

The band's lawyers allege GoldieBlox acted "willfully, maliciously and oppressively with a wilful disregard of the harm that would be suffered by the Beastie Boys parties" in opting to rework Girls for the video.

GoldieBlox bosses had hoped to avoid a legal battle with the Beastie Boys and initially sued the band, alleging the remaining two members of the trio had threatened the company with copyright infringement. They argued that the spot was a parody, and therefore constitutes "fair use".

Beastie Boys founders Mike D and Ad-Rock shot back, "As creative as it is, make no mistake, your video is an advertisement that is designed to sell a product, and long ago, we made a conscious decision not to permit our music and/or name to be used in product ads."

The group's countersuit was filed in Oakland, California on Tuesday (10Dec13). Ad-Rock, real name Adam Horovitz, and Mike D, aka Mike Diamond, are seeking all profits the company may have generated through airing the viral spot.