Eminem's Publisher Sues New Zealand Party

DETROIT, MI — Legendary Detroit rapper Eminem’s music publishers are suing New Zealand’s conservative National Party for copyright infringement. What the publishers are calling Eminem’s signature piece of work, the 2002 song “Lose Yourself,” was used without permission by the political party in a 2014 election campaign advertisement. The case will be heard by New Zealand’s High Court starting Monday.

Titled “Eminem Esque,” the track used by the National Party has the familiar beat of Eminem’s song. Garry Williams, the lawyer for Eminem’s music publishers Eight Mile Style and Martin Affiliated, told the High Court in Wellington that the National Party had wanted a song that was edgy and modern but showed the party was dependable, the Associated Press reported. He said the music fared better with focus groups than a classical piece.

“The bottom line is we would never have permitted the use of the song in any political advertisement,” Williams told the AP. The story was printed in Monday’s Detroit Free Press. Williams said the political views of the National Party were not a factor: “We are Americans and we don’t know about politics in New Zealand.”

The National Party, meanwhile, has previously said it purchased the track through an Australian-based supplier and doesn’t believe it infringed Eminem’s copyright. In 2014, when the case was filed, lawmaker Steven Joyce said he thought the use of the song was “pretty legal,” and that Eminem’s team “are just having a crack and a bit of an eye for the main chance because it’s an election campaign,” the AP reported.

Spokespeople for both Joyce and the National Party said Monday they wouldn’t be commenting while the case was before the court, the news service reported.

Williams told the High Court that the party’s emails made it clear an Eminem “sound-alike” was being used and another email in which an agent for the party wrote ,“I guess the question we’re asking, if everyone thinks it’s Eminem, and it’s listed as Eminem Esque, how can we be confident that Eminem doesn’t say we’re ripping him off?”

Williams said the emails showed it was “utterly clear” the party knew it was using a copyrighted song. Joel Martin, a spokesman for Eminem’s music publishers, said he was surprised the two sides hadn’t reached a settlement before the case began and that going to trial against an entity like a governing political party was unusual and extraordinary, the AP reported.

Photo by Kevork Djansezian / Staff / Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images