Toy company GoldieBlox have written an open letter to Mike D and Ad-Rock of the Beastie Boys, backing down after they contacted lawyers when the hip hop act asked why they hadn't got permission to use their song 'Girls' in an advert.

"We don't want to fight with you. We love you and we are actually huge fans," stated 'Team GoldieBlox', adding: "Our hearts sank last week when your lawyers called us with threats that we took very seriously. As a small company, we had no choice but to stand up for ourselves. We did so sincerely hoping we could come to a peaceful settlement with you." They go on to say that they have now removed the parody version of the song from the advert and are willing to stop the lawsuit.

In the letter, the company wrote that they were unaware that the late Adam Yauch had requested in his will that Beastie Boys songs never be used in advertising. Read the full letter on the GoldieBlox blog.

Earlier this week, the surviving members of the Beastie Boys wrote to GoldieBlox, asking why they were taking legal action against them. "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," they said. "When we tried to simply ask how and why our song "Girls" had been used in your ad without our permission, YOU sued US."

The advert took the misogynistic lyrics of the original track and replaced them with empowered lines about females taking part in science and engineering industries. In legal documents, the company stated of the advert: "GoldieBlox created its parody video with specific goals to make fun of the Beastie Boys song, and to further the company's goal to break down gender stereotypes and to encourage young girls to engage in activities that challenge their intellect, particularly in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math."