New Zealand high court has found the National Party guilty on singer Eminem's copyright and awarded the rapper's publisher NZ$600,000 on his damages. The National Party was found to have broken the copyright in a 2014 election campaign advertisement.
Eminem filed the case against New Zealand's then governing party in September 2014; claiming that they used a version of his chart-topping song Lose Yourself in the campaign.
The court ruled on Wednesday that it had found the political group guilty of breaching rapper's copyright; where its ruling stated,
The differences between the two works are minimal; the close similarities and the indiscernible differences in the drum beat, the 'melodic line' and the piano figures make Eminem Esque strikingly similar to Lose Yourself.Eminem Esque substantially reproduces the essence of Lose Yourself. The parts of Eminem Esque used in the National party’s campaign advertisements also substantially reproduce Lose Yourself.
The National party advertisement featuring Eminem was reportedly played 186 times on television during the election campaign over an 11-day period.
Eminem's Lose Yourself won the Academy Award for best original song in 2003 for the movie 8 Mile, and it also collected a Grammy for best rap song in 2004.This is not the first time the rapper has sued over a copyright infringement. In 2004, he filed a lawsuit against Apple for using a song in one of its television commercials without permission.
