It isn’t often that rap is played in court, but on Monday several lawyers – along with the High Court Justice – had to sit through Eminem’s song “Lose Yourself” several times in Wellington, New Zealand. They also had to watch and listen to a campaign advertisement for the National Party which was at the center of the case.
National Party uses Eminem’s music in campaign ad
Back in 2014, New Zealand’s ruling National Party put together a campaign ad. The music backing to that ad was clearly a copy of part of Eminem’s hit song “Lose Yourself.” The rapper is suing the National Party for copyright infringement for the unlicensed use of that song in their campaign ad.
Use of Eminem’s music clear infringement of copyright
Gary Williams, the lawyer for the plaintiff, named in the suit as Eight Mile Style – Eminem’s publishing company – and Martin Affiliated, said the New Zealand political party has infringed copyright by using Eminem’s song, or what was clearly a reproduction of it. As reported by the New Zealand Herald, Williams went on to say that it didn’t matter that the song’s lyrics were not used in the advert adding that if the party had authorized the infringement, that constituted a breach of the song’s copyright. According to Williams, there are three layers to copyright – covering the sound recording itself, the lyrics of the song and the musical composition.
The National Party campaign ad can be viewed here:
When listening to the actual song “Lose Yourself,” as played in the courtroom below and posted to Facebook by Newshub, it is clear that the ad contained a guitar riff almost identical to that of what is considered to be Eminem’s biggest hit.
As noted by the Independent, the defendants in the lawsuit don’t dispute the fact that this guitar riff is close to identical to Eminem’s hit.
However, they claim the copyright infringement was purely accidental. The National Party purchased the music, which was reportedly titled “Eminem Esque,” from BeatBox, a stock music library.
As noted by Complete Musical Update, Eminem originally sued the political party back in 2014 when the campaign ad was launched, but the party reportedly accused him of "playing politics." They said he wasn’t happy to be associated with a conservative political group.
They stated at the time that the same track had been used in other videos without any problems. However Martin Affiliated said on Monday that it is a straightforward copyright infringement case that has nothing to do with the party’s politics.
Eminem is suing a New Zealand political party for using "Lose Yourself" in an ad, so they played it in court 😂 https://t.co/sKUUtJ2Gpw pic.twitter.com/SMbKQpi8FI
— XXL Magazine (@XXL) May 1, 2017
Williams, acting for Eight Mile Style, said the original song “Lose Yourself” is an iconic track and was undoubtedly the “jewel in the crown” of Eminem’s rap music.
The Independent reports that the case will continue for six days – how much of that time those stern-faced lawyers and the judge will have to suffer through rap music is unknown. However, Eminem is not alone, as Blasting News reported Tuesday the story of The Eagles, who are currently suing Hotel California for trademark infringement.
