Eminem’s publisher has filed a lawsuit against Spotify for copyright infringement on hundreds of songs.
Eight Mile Style accused Spotify of reproducing 250 of the rapper’s songs including “Lose Yourself,” according to a report published Wednesday by The Hollywood Reporter. However, Spotify does not have any license to stream Eminem’s songs. Meanwhile, the publishing company claimed the streaming service has streamed Eminem’s compositions billions of times without providing compensation.
So Eminem’s publicist tells me that he is not a party to the lawsuit against Spotify and was not even aware it was being filed.
Turns out the company that owns his early catalog is doing this on their own. That’s the music industry huh. https://t.co/XSaejYGJiB
— Nick Statt (@nickstatt) August 22, 2019
“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 said in the filing.
The suit also brings up the Music Modernization Act (MMA) and claimed that Spotify did not complete its obligations under the act. (RELATED: Eminem Reveals He’s Been Sober For 11 Years After Struggling With Addiction To Prescription Drugs)
Eight Mile Style claimed Spotify knew who published Eminem’s music but “did not engage in the required commercially reasonable efforts to match sound recordings with the Eight Mile Compositions as required by the MMA.”
BREAK: Eminem’s publisher has filed a lawsuit with massive stakes. Spotify allegedly lacks license to stream “Lose Yourself” and more of rapper’s hits. The lawsuit also challenges the constitutionality of the Music Modernization Act. https://t.co/qtluCK39B8
— Eriq Gardner (@eriqgardner) August 21, 2019
The Music Modernization Act was created to make it easier for streaming services and others to match songs with their owners to make sure everyone receives compensation, The Hollywood Reporter reports.
“The MMA will benefit the music community and create a more transparent and streamlined approach to music licensing and payment for artists,” Spotify’s Vice President of Business and Legal Affairs Horacio Gutierrez said after the act was implemented.