Eminem Sues NZ National Party

[Grayfox]

NZ National Party Campaign Ad(2014)



Eminem-Lose Yourself
Start from 30s



Eminem is suing New Zealand's National Party for allegedly stealing from one of his hit songs.

An ad by the party vying for re-election included a guitar riff strikingly similar to that of 'Lose Yourself', the theme song from the rapper's blockbuster 2002 film 8 Mile.

Today Eminem's company announced it was suing the National Party for copyright infringement, Stuff.co.nz reports.

"In proceedings filed today in the Wellington Registry of the High Court of New Zealand, Eight Mile Style, LLC and Martin Affiliated, LLC, the Detroit-based publishers of Eminem's copyrights, are seeking damages for copyright infringement against the New Zealand National Party," the company said in a statement.

"The proceedings stem from allegations that unauthorised use has been made of Eminem's Grammy and Academy Award winning song, Lose Yourself, in election campaign advertising run by the National Party in the lead up to the 2014 New Zealand General Election which is to take place on 20 September 2014."

The party - led by John Key whose re-election as prime minister will be decided this weekend - says it bought the music for the ad and "completely rejects the allegation that (it) is a copyright infringement of any artist's work".

Joel Martin, representing the publishers, said they were not approached for permission to use any of Eminem's song, which he said was "one of the most iconic copyrights in the world".

He said the owners of 'Lose Yourself' had "rarely authorised its use to advertise products and have said that they would never allow it to be used in connection with any political campaign".

Stuff.co.nz reports that it's not the first time the National Party has been in trouble for its music choices, including a recall of 20,000 DVDs in 2007 after music marking Mr Key's first year as leader sounded too similar to 'Clocks' by Coldplay.

Also, in 1984 Warner Bros threatened to sue the party for the use of the theme song from the film Chariots of Fire.

The company representing Eminem, meanwhile, has been litigious about the use of the Oscar-winning track in the past.

Source Source

I would say Eminem has got a very good case for copyright infringement

 

[Danoff]

It's a feel-alike. It's not the same, but it's intended to achieve a similar atmosphere. There are two notes in the NZ version that really make it different.

 

[LeMansAid]

I have aversion to a version of a version of a version.

The NZ piece probably contains as much of Aerosmith's DNA as Eminem's (or whoever wrote the song).

 

[Imari]

It's going to come down to what is legally defined as a different song. Clearly it's intended to sound similar, and I'd imagine that whoever wrote that particular piece for the National Party knows the letter of the law exactly and probably pushed it as far as possible. The brief may well have been "we want something that sounds like Lose Yourself, but we can't get it off Eminem. How close can you get it?"

 

[LeMansAid]

The irony that I was pointing to being that the same sort of thing may well have happened with Aerosmith's Dream On. Dream On -> Lose Yourself -> NZ National's anthem.

 

[shmogt]

Eminem used to get sued all the time back in the day. Good to see him finally doing some suing lol

 

[niky]

The irony that I was pointing to being that the same sort of thing may well have happened with Aerosmith's Dream On. Dream On -> Lose Yourself -> NZ National's anthem.

Was puzzled by this... there's no "Dream On" in "Lose Yourself"... looking it up, Eminem sampled it for "Sing for the Moment", but that was under license. Joe Perry even played new guitar riffs for the track.

It does seem ironic for a hip-hop artist to sue for wrongful use, considering the widespread use of sampling in the genre, but there's a difference between altering a sound sample to fit within an entirely new framework (and again, there are licensing rights to work out and royalties to pay) and simply co-opting the sound of a song, whole.

 

[LeMansAid]

I hear Dream On as soon as Lose Yourself starts, and the chorus can be sung over the chorus. It feels very much like the song was derived from Dream On. Maybe all of his songs are, and Eminem is the AC/DC of rap.

 

[Keef]

I hear Dream On as soon as Lose Yourself starts

I'm not seeing it. Two totally different sounds.

and the chorus can be sung over the chorus.

This is extremely common in the world of music. There are only a few ways to measure music without it sounding weird so the number of songs whose beats can be played over each other is countless.

 

[LeMansAid]

I'm not seeing it. Two totally different sounds.

I'm hearing - NZ - different song, same sound.
Eminem - same song, different sound.

Like @Danoff wrote, it's a feel-alike. Difference being that one piece wants it hidden, and the other wants it known, and the executions reflect that. It would be possible to record a song that is exactly the same on paper and make it sound totally unlike the original, and also to record a song that is vastly different on paper and have it sound very much like the original.

This is extremely common in the world of music. There are only a few ways to measure music without it sounding weird so the number of songs whose beats can be played over each other is countless.

It's supplementary to the first point, but it's more about chord progressions, and not beats though.

Looking it up, the two Eminem songs look to have been written in very much the same era as they were released in the same year.

Anyway, it's what I hear, and it puts an interesting spin on the legal action.

 

[BobK]

Reminds me somewhat of the brouhaha over "He's So Fine" and "My Sweet Lord". Accusations of plagiarism over three notes, even though the two songs otherwise had nothing whatsoever in common other than being "pop music".