LAWFUEL – A multimillion dollar copyright infringement lawsuit has been launched by rapper Eminem through his music publisher and copyright manager against Apple computers, alleging that downloads of his music was permitted onto iPods without consent.
ALthough Apple pays Eminem’s record label Eigh Mile Style LLC for each download the company argues it has not approved the deal.
A spokesperson for Apple had no comment on the legal case, which was filed in the US District Court in Detroit, the BBC report.
Eight Mile Style said between 70 and 80 songs were affected by the dispute, including tracks from the Grammy award-winning The Eminem Show.
The company holds the copyright, or partial copyright, in all of the tracks.
It is seeking more than $75,000 for copyright infringement, unfair competition and a violation of the Michigan consumer protection act.
It also asks for damages of up to $150,000 per infringement – or each time a song is downloaded.
Apple charges $0.99 (£0.49) for most song downloads in the US. Recording companies get about $0.70 (£0.34) and pass on $0.09 (£0.04) of that fee to publishers.
But many publishers would prefer to receive their share of the money directly from retailers.
