New Zealand’s National Party rapped over the knuckles for channelling Eminem
Sydney — A New Zealand political party has been ordered to pay more than US$400,000 to US rapper Eminem for using music similar to his 2002 hit Lose Yourself in a TV advert to help win a national election. The track, played during the National Party’s successful 2014 election campaign and titled Eminem Esque, was found by a New Zealand court to have "substantially copied" Lose Yourself. The National Party used the song 186 times during the campaign before taking the ad off the air, the court said. "This decision is a warning to sound-alike music producers and their clients everywhere," said Adam Simpson, director of Simpsons Solicitors, who acted for Eminem’s music company, Eight Mile Style. The National Party said the music was licensed with one of New Zealand’s main industry copyright bodies, the Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society. "Being licensed and available for purchase, and having taken advice from our suppliers, the party believed the purchase was legal," Natio...
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