Eminem’s Music Publisher Proceeds With Lawsuit Against Apple Inc.

Eminem's music publishing company, Eight Mile Style LLC is pushing forward with a lawsuit against Apple Inc. and Aftermath Records for the unauthorized use of 93 songs that were made available for download on iTunes.

According to Eight Mile, Aftermath Records unlawfully licensed rights to the digital downloads which resulted in a $2.5 million dollar profit for Apple and a $4 million profit for Aftermath. One of the songs in question is the hit single 'Lose Yourself' from 2002's 8-Mile soundtrack, which Eight Mile claims to have full ownership and copyright over. Apple has denied the charges and maintains that the company had a valid contract with Aftermath Records that allowed them to make the tracks available for download.

According to Apple lawyers, Eight Mile made agreements in both 1998 and 2003 that "Eminem would create master sound recordings embodying compositions, and that Aftermath would own those masters." Part of this agreement would allow Aftermath to distribute and license the master recordings exclusively.

Although Eight Mile has acknowledged receipt of royalties from the songs, the company still plans to proceed with the case, and has gone as far as demanding a percentage of the profit from Apple's iPod sales. The case will make its way to court for a non-jury trial on Thursday (Sept. 24) unless all parties come to an agreement during a settlement hearing on Wednesday in front of a U.S. Magistrate Judge.

In 2005, Eminem sued Apple over an iPod ad, which featured the unauthorized use of the lyrics to "Lose Yourself," but the two parties settled the dispute privately.