Detroit legend Eminem was represented in a High Court case management teleconference, which took place yesterday (December 14) between New Zealand’s National Party and Eight Mile Style LLC/Martin Affiliated LLC.
The NZ Herald reports that Eight Mile Style LLC and Martin Affiliated LLC, publishers of Eminem’s copyrights, took action against the political party for allegedly using Em’s 2002 record, “Lose Yourself” in an elections ad without permission.
Video of the election ad is below.
Prime Minister Bill English, who serves as leader of the National Party, provided the NZ Herald with little comment on the matter.
“That is a matter for the courts, they are dealing with it…so I don’t have any comment to make on it. I’ve had no contact with anyone related to the court case,” English said.
The National Party has flat-out denied any use of the 8 Mile track in its video.
According to the organization, the music in the ad was provided by an Australian-based production company. They also claim that the music they’re heading to court over has been used by others without question.
A May 1, 2017 trial was set by the High Court of New Zealand in September of this year.
Fucking cry babies..letum use that shit damn man ot only sounds like a it a little..petty mfkrs greedy ass niggas. Fuck em n his people
oh, please, artists get sued all of the time for using samples and beats w/o permission, but we don’t publicly hear about it because most of it gets settled behind the scenes. However, since it’s Eminem, and he’s a megastar, it’ll be “news.” Quit hating on Em and his camp.
Secondly, if you were a producer and artist who truly valued your work, you and/or your producers wouldn’t get pissed off and threaten lawsuits for someone using it at will w/o permission?
They weren’t even going to sue National and just asked them to take the ad off air. Eminem’s lawyer said that the National Party just kept saying “oh we think it’s all harmless” and left it on air until after the election and at that point his legal team decided they needed to be made an example of for their arrogance. They also said that they would NEVER have allowed anyone to use the song for a political campaign so it’s not simply a matter of “how much” and in addition Eminem’s lawyer compared National’s claim “oh it’s the fault of the people we bought it from” to receiving stolen goods where you know you’re buying something illegal because the price of the Gucchi bag on the street is so cheap but you do it anyway. Plus the music they bought was called Eminske showing a clear intent to invoke Eminem’s song, and the theme of the song as well as the tune is also trying to invoke the spirit of Loose Yourself. Eminem’s team have a great case and the only way they could lose is if the NZ court is completely biased and corrupt.
National Party couldn’t be more guilty. The fact that they are even trying to defend the action shows a real ignorance of copyright law.
When I first heard about this, I assumed that John Key had taken the ad soundtrack off his Eminem CD. Now that I hear a professional organisation in Australia supplied a soundtrack, I feel the blame lies with them – their professional responsibility includes making sure that what they supply is legit. for a client to use. Eminem should sue them.