{"id":315261,"date":"2017-05-01T07:40:07","date_gmt":"2017-05-01T07:40:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=315261"},"modified":"2017-05-01T07:40:07","modified_gmt":"2017-05-01T07:40:07","slug":"eminem-sues-new-zealand-governing-party-over-lose-yourself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/05\/eminem-sues-new-zealand-governing-party-over-lose-yourself\/","title":{"rendered":"Eminem sues New Zealand governing party over ‘Lose Yourself’"},"content":{"rendered":"
Eminem has taken New Zealand’s governing party to court over a music track it used for a campaign ad.<\/p>\n
The US rapper says the song, used in the 2014 advert by the National Party, was an unlicensed version of Lose Yourself, one of his biggest hits.<\/p>\n
But the party’s lawyers argue it was not actually Lose Yourself, but a track called Eminem-esque which they bought from a stock music library.<\/p>\n
The case began on Monday, with the two tracks played in court.<\/p>\n
A lawyer for Eight Mile Style – a publishing group representing the artist – said Lose Yourself was “iconic” and “without doubt the jewel in the crown of Eminem’s musical work”.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The 2014 advert featured shots of rowers and a voiceover urging people to “keep the team that’s working” and return the National Party to office at the coming election.<\/p>\n
The backing track, Eminem-esque, was strikingly similar to Lose Yourself, which appeared in Eminem’s 2002 film 8 Mile.<\/p>\n
It had the same insistent driving rhythm, though did not feature any words.<\/p>\n
The track had been taken from a library made by production music company Beatbox.<\/p>\n
Songs which sound similar to famous tracks – but different enough to avoid breaching copyright – routinely feature in free-to-use commercial music libraries.<\/p>\n
But Eight Mile Style lawyer Gary Williams said the use of the song had been a breach of copyright.<\/p>\n
He told the court that emails showed some in the National Party campaign team had raised copyright concerns at the time, but decided the composer, not them, would be liable.<\/p>\n