Eminem’s Music Publisher Files Lawsuit Against Spotify

Eminem‘s publisher Eight Mile Style filed a suit in federal court Wednesday alleging that Spotify has streamed the artist’s songs without having properly licensed them.

In re-producing the song “Lose Yourself,” and hundreds of others by the rapper, the lawsuit claims the music streamer infringed on copyright laws.

The Music Modernization Act, which is meant to simplify the licensing process for tech companies, allows them to license songs of unknown owners by placing them in a category called Copyright Control. The publisher’s complaint adds that “Lose Yourself” was put into a category meant for unknown song owners on Spotify.

According to the report by The Hollywood Reporter

“Spotify has not accounted to Eight Mile or paid Eight Mile for these streams but instead remitted random payments of some sort, which only purport to account for a fraction of those streams.”

Eight Mile says the filing is “absurd,” given that the song won an Oscar and is the most recognizable tune from Eminem’s 2002 movie.

Eight Mile Style also says that Spotify violated the Music Modernization Act, which was signed into law last year.The act makes it easier for rights holders to be paid when their music is streamed online.

The suit will alternatively seek maximum in statutory damages, which would equate to $150,000 per each of the 243 songs on Spotify, which comes out to $36.45 million.

Eight Mile claims that even if Spotify was not aware of who owned the songs, it didn’t take the necessary steps required by the MMA.

Spotify has not accounted to Eight Mile or paid Eight Mile for these streams but instead remitted random payments of some sort, which only purport to account for a fraction of those streams, Eight Mile Style, via complaint. It is unknown how much Eight Mile is seeking in the lawsuit, but the amount could end up being substantial.