Eminem’s publishing company is taking Meta to court. Eight Mile Style, the company that controls the rapper’s music rights, is suing Meta for $109 million in damages for allegedly using hundreds of his songs without a license.
The lawsuit accuses Meta of longstanding copyright infringement, claiming the tech giant made Eminem’s music available on Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp without permission.
Meta accused of profiting off unlicensed tracks
According to the lawsuit obtained by Music Business Worldwide, Meta has made over 200 of Eminem’s songs available to users on its platforms without obtaining the proper licenses to store, reproduce or distribute the music.
“Meta’s years-long and ongoing infringement of the Eight Mile Compositions is another case of a trillion (with a ‘T’) dollar company exploiting the creative efforts of musical artists,” the lawsuit states. It also accuses Meta of doing so “without regard to the rights of the owners of the intellectual property.”
Meta responds to the legal challenge
The company denies wrongdoing and states that it has attempted to resolve the issue in good faith.
“Meta has licenses with thousands of partners around the world and an extensive global licensing program for music on its platforms,” the company said in a statement to The Independent. “Meta had been negotiating in good faith with Eight Mile Style, but rather than continue those discussions, Eight Mile Style chose to sue.”
The company has reportedly removed many of Eminem’s tracks from its platforms in recent months, but the lawsuit argues that the damage has already been done.
Eight Mile Style is seeking damages based on $150,000 per song, multiplied by 243 songs across Meta’s three major platforms. That totals $109 million.
Meta faces other music lawsuits
This isn’t the first time Meta has been hit with legal action over music rights.
In 2022, Reuters reported Swedish music label Epidemic Sound filed a $142 million lawsuit against Meta, alleging the company hosted over 950 of its tracks without authorization. The trial was set for September 2024, though no public updates have been issued.
The case underscores a broader trend in the music industry: as of August 2024, 55% of active music-related lawsuits involve copyright disputes, according to Digital Music News.
Eminem’s history of fighting for music rights
Eight Mile Style also sued Spotify in 2019, claiming the streaming platform failed to correctly license the rapper’s work for billions of streams. The streaming service ultimately won the lawsuit in August 2024, with a judge criticizing Eight Mile Style for allegedly manufacturing the case for its own gain.
“While Spotify’s handling of composer copyrights appears to have been seriously flawed, any right to recover damages belongs to those who were genuinely harmed,” wrote Judge Aleta A. Trauger. She added that Eight Mile Style “had every opportunity to set things right and simply chose not to.”
