Well over two years after Detroit rapper Eminem filed a lawsuit against the New Zealand National Party over the unlawful use of his music, a major step has finally been made in the legal process.
Rolling Stone reports that Em’s trial against the organization began Monday (May 1).
In his opening remarks, Eminem’s lawyer Gary Williams made sure to stress the significance of “Lose Yourself,” which was featured on the 8 Mile soundtrack in 2002 and garnered countless accolades.
“In short, ‘Lose Yourself’ is an extremely valuable song,” Gary Williams reportedly said. “The licensing of the song has been extremely carefully controlled. Despite many requests, it has only rarely been licensed for advertising purposes. When licensed, it can command in the millions of dollars. That’s how valuable it is.”
In addition to the initial video being dubbed as “Eminem-esque” in its title, an email from a member of the New Zealand National Party voiced concerns of the election ad possibly “ripping [Eminem] off.”
“I guess the question we’re asking, if everyone thinks it’s Eminem, and it’s listed as ‘Eminem-esque,’ how can we be confident that Eminem doesn’t say we’re ripping him off?” an email revealed in court read.
Released in 2014, the election ad for the New Zealand National Party featured an instrumental similar to Eminem’s “Lose Yourself.” Following the release of the video, the rapper’s lawyers were swift in taking legal action.
The political party had previously revealed that the music in the ad was provided by an Australian-based production company.
The trial will reportedly last approximately one week.
A lawsuit that wouldn’t fly in the US, but would in the NZ because of draconian copyright laws. Hoisted by their own petard — a lack of fair use.
i cant wait for his album and i hope that this album be better than mmlp2 or recovery or relapse or encore and EM easily make it in my top 5 1-biggie 2-nas 3-eminem 4-pac 5- jay z
I’m excited for how many people he’s gunna piss off in his first single, cuz you know these same people are gunna keep listening to him thinking he will finally start to rap about ponies and rainbows.
I wouldn’t want to go up against any of Eminem/Shady Records lawyers. I’m sure they can afford the best of the best. Also, Lose Yourself is one of the most iconic and well-known songs of any genre – I bet it’s worth millions of dollars. I can’t even imagine what its worth will be when Em passes away.
Isn’t this the guy who once bragged about being an American Psycho and a Criminal? Now he wants help from the law? Sad.
What a ridiculous thing to say. Just because you are a criminal/say you are a criminal doesn’t mean you’ll ever need help from the law?
How retarded and single minded are you?
He has sold millions of albums promoting an image of sticking his fingerz up and assuming the role of a criminal / outlaw on his records but he’s quick to have the law on his side when it suits him. And for the record the tune sounds similar to Lose Yourself not identical…big deal.
Well, people shouldn’t be stealing or using similar samples of music w/o permission then. The song is worth millions of dollars. If I was one of the writers or producers of the song, you’d bet I’d be in that courtroom. Will.i.am got sued multiple times for his “WillPower” album, because he used similar samples and exact samples of existing beats w/o permission.
There is a reason why many artists are now restraining from using samples or similar samples of beats that aren’t cleared by the artist and/or owner’s record company, so they don’t have to deal with what this court case is about.