UPDATE: Amazing footage has emerged of the Wellington High Court listening to ‘Lose Yourself’ as part of the copyright case. Watch it below, alongside the NZ National Party ad it allegedly ripped off:
ORIGINAL STORY: Eminem has slapped the New Zealand National Party with a court case after they allegedly used a song that bore a striking resemblance to his 8 Mile anthem ‘Lose Yourself’ in a 2014 election ad.
Amusingly, as a result the Wellington High Court has been blasting rap music all day today.
According to AAP (via SBS), lawyers for Detroit-based record companies Eight Mile Style and Martin Affiliated treated the NZ courthouse to the full version of ‘Lose Yourself’, followed by the suspect election ad track, and finally the instrumental version of ‘Lose Yourself’ during the trial for copyright infringement.
“‘Lose Yourself’ is a jewel in the crown of Eminem’s catalogue,” Shady & co’s lawyer Gary Williams told the court, arguing that the tune’s “iconic musical composition” had been wrongfully used in the party’s ad.
He also added that their alleged rip-off of the hit was especially damaging since the OG track itself has rarely been licensed for commercial use.
“Its commercial exploitation is tightly managed to protect the integrity of the work,” he said. “It’s known in the advertising industry that ‘Lose Yourself’ is not commonly available.”
The lawyer also claimed that the sound file for the song on the political party’s ad had been expressly labelled “Eminem-esque”.
In response, the National Party appear to be pleading ignorance, with their lawyers arguing that the song was part of a library “bought from production music supplier Beatbox”.
Thev trial is due to ~wrap~ up after six days. And needless to say, the plaintiff’s only have one shot. One opportunity. To seize everything they ever wanted.
