Eminem’s publishing company Eight Mile Style has launched a copyright infringement lawsuit against Meta, alleging unauthorised distribution of the rapper’s music across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp platforms.
The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court Eastern District of Michigan Southern Division, claims Meta has been using Eminem’s music without proper licensing permissions, resulting in millions of videos featuring his compositions being viewed billions of times, according to Rolling Stone.
“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 for the obscene monetary benefit of its executives and shareholders without a licence and without regard to the rights of the owners of the intellectual property,” the complaint states.
Eight Mile Style owns 243 musical compositions, including iconic tracks like “Lose Yourself”, “The Real Slim Shady”, and “Forgot About Dre”. While the suit acknowledges that Meta has removed several compositions from its Music Libraries in recent months, including “Lose Yourself”, it notes that alternative versions such as karaoke, piano instrumental, and cover versions remain available.
The publishing company alleges that Meta’s infringement extends beyond merely allowing users to upload copyrighted audio. The lawsuit specifically targets Meta’s practice of “reproducing and storing [compositions] in Meta’s online Music Libraries, and then distributing them for users to select and incorporate into their own photos and videos” across its platforms.
Eight Mile Style is seeking significant monetary damages, including compensation for “the diminished value of the copyrights,” lost profits, and Meta’s profits attributable to the infringement. Alternatively, the company is pursuing maximum statutory damages for wilful copyright infringement—$150,000 per work across 243 works and three platforms—totalling a potential $109,350,000.
Additionally, Eight Mile Style has requested a permanent injunction to halt ongoing infringement of their copyrighted works.
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A Meta spokesperson responded to the lawsuit, stating: “Meta has licences with thousands of partners around the world and an extensive global licensing program for music on its platforms. Meta had been negotiating in good faith with Eight Mile Style, but rather than continue those discussions, Eight Mile Style chose to sue.”
This legal action comes less than a year after Eight Mile Style lost a copyright infringement lawsuit against Spotify. In that case, which sought nearly $40 million in damages for billions of unpaid streams, a Tennessee judge ruled that any penalties would have fallen on Kobalt Music Group, a royalty collection agency, rather than Spotify.
