*Eight Mile Style, the publishing company overseeing Eminem’s early music catalog, has filed a $109 million lawsuit against Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, for alleged copyright infringement.
The legal action, initiated on May 30 in Michigan’s U.S. District Court, claims Meta illegally used 243 of Eminem’s songs through “unauthorized storage, reproduction and exploitation” on its platforms. The lawsuit, detailed in court documents obtained by E! News on June 3, targets features like Original Audio and Reels, which Eight Mile Style alleges “allow and encourage its users to steal” the rapper’s music for user-generated videos without proper licensing or attribution.
The filing seeks $150,000 per song across Meta’s three platforms, totaling $109,350,000, to compensate for “the diminished value of the copyrights by Defendants’ theft of them, lost profits, and Defendants’ profits attributable to the infringement.” Eight Mile Style, which manages Eminem’s music from 1995 to 2005, emphasizes the value of his catalog, noting his global sales exceed 220 million records. The company accuses Meta of failing to secure proper licenses through Audiam, a royalty collection agency, and continuing to host unauthorized versions of Eminem’s songs, such as cover and instrumental renditions, despite some removals.
Meta countered in a statement to E! News on June 4, saying, “Meta has licenses with thousands of partners around the world and an extensive global licensing program for music on its platforms. Meta had been negotiating in good faith with Eight Mile Style, but rather than continue those discussions, Eight Mile Style chose to sue.”
Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Mathers, distanced himself from the lawsuit, clarifying to E! News, “8 Mile Style is a publishing company that administers my early catalog releases. The Meta lawsuit came from them, not me. I’m not personally involved with it and I am not a party to the suit.”
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Pictures: Paul Smith/Featureflash
Eminem’s music has long been a medium for personal expression, addressing his challenging upbringing, relationships with his late mother Debbie Nelson and ex-wife Kim Mathers, and his recovery from a 2007 drug overdose.
“One of the great things about rap music is that you could put so much of your life in it,” he shared on Shade 45’s Sway In The Morning in June 2022. “It’s therapeutic and that’s how it’s always been for me.”
Reflecting on his sobriety, he told the Paul Pod podcast in September 2022, “I remember when I first got sober and all the s–t was out of my system. I remember just being really happy and everything was f–king new to me again.”
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