Eminem takes on Kiwis over song

Eminem’s song Lose Yourself from his semi-autobiographical movie 8 Mile is at the centre of a lawsuit.
Source: News Corp Australia

The chart-topping US rapper is suing the National Party for allegedly using his track Lose Yourself in its election campaign ads without permission.

Lawyers for both sides were due to meet in the High Court at Wellington on Friday for a private hearing.

But court officials confirmed to AAP that the hearing didn’t need to go ahead, as the matters were dealt with prior to it. The next court date is likely to be in June.

The National Party has flatly rejected the copyright infringement allegation, with campaign manager Steven Joyce saying in September he thought the use of the song was “pretty legal”.

“We think these guys are just having a crack and have a bit of an eye for the main chance because it’s an election campaign,” he told reporters at the time.

But Eight Mile Style is still seeking damages.

Chart-topping US rapper is suing the National Party for allegedly using his track Lose Yourself.
Source: AP

It claims “unauthorised use has been made of Eminem’s Grammy and Academy Award-winning song, Lose Yourself, in election campaign advertising run by the National Party in the lead-up to the 2014 New Zealand General Election”.

In September, a spokesman for the publishers, Joel Martin, said Eminem was never approached for permission to use his work in the Nationals’ rowing-themed election ads, which featured backing music similar to the riff of Lose Yourself.

“It is both disappointing and sadly ironic that the political party responsible for championing the rights of music publishers in New Zealand by the introduction of the three-strikes copyright reforms should itself have so little regard for copyright,” he said at the time.

The National Party said the music came from an Australian-based production outfit and it had been used by others without complaint.

www.news.com.au/entertainment/music