A rep for Eminem said on Thursday that the rapper will be donating to hurricane relief any proceeds he receives from a New Zealand court ruling announced Wednesday. In that ruling, Eight Mile Style, publishers who control some of Eminem’s early catalog, was awarded $600,000 (around $415,000 U.S.) in a copyright case against New Zealand’s National party, which used a song deemed similar to his hit “Lose Yourself” in a 2014 election advertisement. The rep noted that contrary to multiple news reports, the rapper did not initiate the lawsuit.
“Eminem was not a party to this lawsuit nor was he consulted regarding the case,” the rep said. “Any monetary settlement he receives from it will be donated to hurricane relief. He encourages the plaintiffs, 8 Mile Style, to do the same.”
The publishers filed suit against the party in September 2014 for its use of the song, which was created by a production house and is actually titled “Eminem Esque.” The court ruled Wednesday (Oct. 25) that the track was “sufficiently similar” to Eminem’s original song and that it impinged on copyright. “Eminem Esque has substantially copied ‘Lose Yourself,’” the ruling says.
“The differences between the two works are minimal; the close similarities and the indiscernible differences in drum beat, the ‘melodic line’ and the piano figures make ‘Eminem Esque’ strikingly similar to ‘Lose Yourself,’” the ruling reads in part.
– Excerpt from Variety by Jem Aswad. See the full article here.
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