In a new legal turn, Meta, the tech giant behind Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, is facing the spotlight once again, this time for allegedly using Eminem’s music without adequate permission. Now Eminem’s longtime music publisher, Eight Mile Style, is hitting back with a federal lawsuit filed in Detroit alleging that Meta misappropriated the lyrics to a whopping 243 of the rapper’s compositions, including classics such as “Lose Yourself” and ‘Till I Collapse.”
The suit, filed May 30, claims Meta loaded these songs into its music libraries through a 2020 deal with digital rights firm Audiam. But here’s the kicker: Eight Mile Style claims that Audiam never had the right to license Eminem’s music in the first place. In short, Meta’s access to these songs was hardly on the up and up.
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What’s even more suspect, however, is what’s reportedly been happening with this music on Meta’s platforms. The complaint alleges that Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp aren’t just hosting the songs; the services are actively distributing them to users. Imagine features such as “For You” and “Trending,” all serving up rump-wagging, slim, shady tracks, which keep engagement high and pocket a profit for Meta, all without, according to the lawsuit, properly crediting or compensating the artist or their publisher.
While Eminem himself isn’t the defendant in the suit, the songs in question come from a pivotal decade of his career, spanning from 1995 to 2005, a period that some would argue was his commercial zenith. Eight Mile Style claims Meta’s actions are “completely brazen.” It points out that The company is “actively encouraging” people to use these tracks in their content, profiting from Eminem’s worldwide popularity without making fair arrangements to use his music.
This isn’t Meta’s first altercation with Eight Mile Style over the rapper’s musical library. In 2013, the publisher sued Facebook over a promotional video that it claimed featured the track “Under the Influence” without authorization. That lawsuit was settled out of court, but the stakes seem higher this time.
As reported in the Detroit Free Press, the suit is also seeking both monetary damages and a permanent injunction to require Meta to stop using Eminem’s music without a proper license. So far, Meta, based in California, has not publicly responded to the accusations.
This legal dust-up also highlights the complex terrain where music, technology, and licensing intersect. Platforms like Meta heavily rely on music to entertain their users. Still, the question of fair compensation for artists and publishers remains one that continues to vex and tax these services.
This is one to watch for Eminem fans and those who follow the music industry. It raises crucial questions about artist rights in the digital age and whether tech giants can continue to profit from the work of cultural icons without opening their coffers.
As this battle played out, it served as a reminder that for every viral track or hot video, there’s a web of rights and licensing, and on occasion, that web becomes entangled in courtrooms.
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