Eminem Files Lawsuit Against Meta For AI Copyright Infringement

Eminem’s publishing company, Eight Mile Style, has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Meta, which operates Facebook and Instagram. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division. According to the lawsuit, Meta has distributed Eminem’s music across its platforms without the proper licensing permissions.

According to the complaint, “Despite their not being licensed, the recordings of the Eight Mile Compositions have been reproduced and synchronized with visual content on Meta’s platforms across millions of videos, which have been viewed billions of times. Meta’s years-long and ongoing infringement of the Eight Mile Compositions is another case of a trillion (with a ‘T’) dollar company exploiting the creative efforts of musical artists for the obscene monetary benefit of its executives and shareholders without a license and without regard to the rights of the owners of the intellectual property.”

Eight Mile Style owns 243 music compositions. The lawsuit acknowledges that Meta has currently removed several of the Eight Mile compositions from its music libraries in the preceding months. However, a karaoke version, a piano instrumental, and one regular cover version by another artist are still accessible from the site.

The lawsuit alleges that Meta’s “rampant infringement” extends well beyond allowing users to upload copyrighted audio to its platforms. “This case involves Meta’s knowing infringement of the Eight Mile Compositions by first reproducing and storing them in Meta’s online Music Libraries, and then distributing them for users to select and incorporate into their own photos and videos made available for public streaming on the users’ WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram accounts,” the complaint alleges.

Eminem’s publishing company is seeking monetary damages, “including actual damages, damages for the diminished value of the copyrights by Defendants’ theft of them, lost profits, and Defendants’ profits attributable to the infringement.” In addition, the company is seeking “maximum statutory damages for willful copyright infringement for each of Eight Mile Style’s works.” That would amount to $150,000 per work multiplied by 243 works, on three discrete platforms for a total of $109,350,000. Eight Mile Style has additionally requested a permanent injunction to halt the ongoing infringement.

“Meta has licenses with thousands of partners around the world and an extensive global licensing program for music on its platforms,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement. “Meta had been negotiating in good faith with Eight Mile Style, but rather than continue those discussions, Eight Mile Style chose to sue.”

This lawsuit comes less than a year after another lawsuit filed by Eight Mile Style against Spotify for illegally streaming its music. Spotify was able to defeat the lawsuit on a legal loophole. Any imposed penalties would have fallen on a different company, Kobalt Music Group, a royalty collection agency.

Talk to a Columbus Copyright Infringement Lawyer Today 

Kohl & Cook Law Firm, LLC represents the interests of businesses and individuals that have had their copyrighted materials infringed upon by other companies. Call our Columbus civil litigation lawyers today to schedule an appointment, and we can begin addressing your needs right away.

Source:

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