A team representing Eminem (real name Marshall Mathers) could soon be heading to the courtroom, as the "Lose Yourself" rapper is trying to sue Mark Zuckerberg's Meta over unauthorized use of his music.
The 52-year-old artist is known as one of the most influential rappers of all time, but going up against one of the Big Five tech companies is no small feat. With Mark Zuckerberg at the helm, the Meta empire has grown to include Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram.
After being hit with a substantial fine for breaking the Digital Marketing Act, and Zuckerberg being accused of running the 'cruelest tech company out there' in the world, Meta has now got the attention of a music legend.
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In a filing obtained by E! News, Mathers' publishing company has alleged copyright infringement on 243 of his songs by Meta Platforms.
Eminem is seeking a huge payout from Zuckerberg's Meta
Eight Mile Style is seeking a whopping $109 million for "unauthorized storage, reproduction and exploitation" of Eminem's tracks across various platforms. The suit says that app features like Original Audio and Reels "allow and encourage its users to steal" Mathers' music "without proper attribution or license."
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After securing mainstream recognition with 1999's The Slim Shady LP, his catalog of songs has grown to include "The Real Slim Shady", "Stan", "Love the Way You Lie", and more. Over the years, he's secured eight American Music Awards wins, 17 Billboard wins, and even an Emmy for his role in 2022's Pepsi Super Bowl LVI halftime show.
Considering he's one of the best-selling artists of all time and boasts over 220 million records sold alongside the honor of being the first musical act to have ten albums debut consecutively at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, Eminem's music can be quite the money-spinner.
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The publishing company is seeking "the diminished value of the copyrights by Defendants’ theft of them, lost profits, and Defendants’ profits attributable to the infringement." If Meta doesn't agree, Eminem's side is asking for the maximum statutory damages of $150,000 for each of the 243 songs, across Meta’s three platforms. This comes to a grand total of $109,350,000.
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Even though Mathers himself isn't directly involved, the Detroit rapper's team maintains that Zuckerberg's tech giant is making money off his expansive library.
Meta entered into a license agreement with a digital music royalty collection firm called Audiam in 2020, but back then, it's said that Meta failed to negotiate a deal with Eight Mile Style as part of the Audiam license.
Meta has reportedly declined to comment on the case.