A New York judge has thrown out a copyright lawsuit against the rappers, concluding that executives at TufAmerica, who filed suit the day before band member Adam Yauch died in 2012, had no case.

In her ruling on Tuesday (24Mar15), Judge Alison Nathan granted the Beastie Boys a summary judgment, claiming the plaintiffs failed to acquire an exclusive license to the copyrighted material.

To bring a lawsuit against the trio, TufAmerica's bosses needed Trouble Funk stars Robert Reed, Tony Fisher and James Avery, whose tracks Say What and Let's Get Small were sampled on Paul's Boutique, to sign over their rights.

Reed and Fisher did a deal with the company, but Avery was left out.

The judge ruled, "Without the third co-owner, Robert Reed and Fisher could at best convey a non-exclusive license to TufAmerica."