Eminem Sues New Zealand's National Party For Copyright Infringement
News
oi-IANS
By Ians English
The
ruling
National
Party
in
New
Zealand
is
facing
legal
action
over
the
alleged
use
of
a
song
by
US
rapper
Eminem
in
one
of
its
election
ads,
a
media
report
said
on
Tuesday.
Eminem's
publishing
company
Eight
Mile
has
sued
the
party
for
alleged
copyright
infringement
of
the
Grammy
and
Academy
Award
winning
song
"Lose
Yourself",
the
theme
song
for
the
movie,
"8
Mile",
in
which
Eminem
played
a
struggling
rapper,
Stuff.co.nz
reported.
"In
proceedings
filed
Tuesday
in
the
Wellington
Registry
of
the
High
Court
of
New
Zealand,
Eight
Mile
Style,
LLC
and
Martin
Affiliated,
LLC,
the
Detroit-based
publishers
of
Eminem's
copyrights,
are
seeking
damages
for
copyright
infringement
against
the
New
Zealand
National
Party," a
court
statement
said.
The
National
Party
confirmed
it
had
received
a
complaint
but
completely
rejected
the
allegation.
The
party's
campaign
manager
Steven
Joyce
said
they
had
gone
through
all
the
necessary
licensing
procedures.
General
elections
in
New
Zealand
are
scheduled
to
be
held
Sep
20.
Joel
Martin,
speaking
on
behalf
of
Eminem's
publishing
company,
said
they
were
not
approached
for
permission
to
use
any
of
Eminem's
songs
for
the
ad.
According
to
the
statement,
the
Eminem's
publishers
have
previously
sued
Apple
for
using
his
song
in
a
commercial
spot
without
permission.
There
has
also
been
a
high
profile
dispute
with
luxury
car
company
Audi,
in
which
the
publishers
alleged
that
it
had
wrongfully
used
a
substantial
reproduction
of
"Lose
Yourself" in
its
advertising.