National Party ripped off rapper
The National Party’s defence of its copyright claim over Eminem’s
Lose Yourself hit was ‘‘kind of a farce’’ and should have been settled three years ago, the rapper’s copyright manager says.
Speaking from Detroit, in the United States, Joel Martin said Eminem would be the main beneficiary of the High Court’s award of $600,000 in damages, plus about $100,000 in interest.
In a 132-page decision released by Justice Helen Cull yesterday, the Wellington High Court judge found Eminem’s Lose Yourself was a ‘‘highly original’’ work and the ‘‘soundalike’’ version called Eminem Esque, which National used in a campaign advert in 2014, substantially copied it.
The similarities between the music overwhelmingly supported a finding of copying, the judge said.
‘‘This was kind of a farce, to find out they used Lose Yourself,’’
Martin said. ‘‘They should have settled this case three years ago.’’
It wasn’t until halfway through the hearing earlier this year that they learned during production that the advert was originally set to Lose Yourself before National sourced Eminem Esque, Martin said. ‘‘One of the defendants just kind of admitted that they replaced
Lose Yourself with a weak version of Lose Yourself.’’
Martin was pleased with the essence of the judge’s decision. The damages awarded were not high by US standards but the case made the point that people could not continue to use soundalikes or rip-offs.
‘‘We were looking for more money than that. But, at the end of the day, I think it’s absolutely a reasonable award for New Zealand,’’ he said.
The US parties had suggested damages should have started at US$1 million (NZ$1.4m).
The National Party had paid $4802 for the licence to use the ‘‘soundalike’’ music library track
Eminem Esque but the copyright holders for Lose Yourself said it was so close to the original that it breached copyright.
Detroit rapper Eminem was not a party to the case. Two US companies who controlled the copyright sued the National Party and its manager/secretary Greg Hamilton.
National Party president Peter Goodfellow said the result was disappointing. ‘‘The party is now considering the implications of the judgment and the next steps.’’
It already has a claim against the suppliers and licensors of the track, Goodfellow said.
The judge found although copyright was infringed, the National Party acted after receiving professional, commercial and media advice and was not reckless or ‘‘contumelious’’ of the copyright holder’s rights.
Eight Mile Style and Martin Affiliated part-owned the copyright of Lose Yourself and had exclusive rights to bring an action for copyright infringement.