Eminem Sues Apple for Illegal Downloads
A few eyebrows were raised when Eminem's publishing company, Eight Mile Style, filed a lawsuit against California-based Apple Inc. The suit, filed in a U.S. District Court in Detroit, claims that Apple has failed to compensate Eight Mile Style for allowing downloads of 70-80 of Eminem's music, including songs from The Eminem Show.
Consequently, Eight Mile Style is asking for more than $75,000 for "copyright infringement, unfair competition and a violation of the Michigan consumer protection act." It also seeks for damages of up to $150,000 per infringement—a.k.a. each time a song was downloaded.
You see, record companies need permission from copyright holders before a download can be authorized. Apparently, those Eminem songs were not authorized before being offered for download via Apple's iTunes for $0.99 each.
Image © Fernando Leon/Getty
Comments
That’s wassup. love Apple
How typical..like Lars Ulrich of Metallica spewing off about wanting control of his art…why not call it what it really is…greed…$$$$$ is the bottom line…honestly! If I couldnt’ sample music online, I wouldn’t go out of my way to buy these albums either…you’re just bloomin lucky someone even wants to hear those oldies.
Your right Dude it’s all about$$$$$. I don’t understand Lars mind space,how much $$$$$ does he need.Don’t Harsh My Mellow Metallica. Peace Out.
umm… how is that greed? he was getting ripped off. they didn’t have authorization to have those songs on there, and that’s illegal. he’s right to sue.
Oh, come on, greed? The songs weren’t authorized, meaning the people who should have been paid weren’t. That money was going into other people’s pockets, people who don’t have the legal right to it.
And *that* is greed.
The reason it’s greed is simple. Look at the damages they’re asking for, $150,000 for *every* infringement, i.e. *every* song.
Imagine the average 12 song album costing $150,000 per song, imagine going into your local music store and having to drop 1.8 million dollars for a *single* cd.
My bet is that Apple settles this, if the lawyers push it, the damages will be decided unconstitutionally unreasonable and be either dramatically reduced, (to proper compensation of ~50c-70c) or eliminated entirely.
They are well within their rights to sue, but the damages they’re asking for are outrageous.