Apple settles Eminem lawsuit

'Out-a-court'

By Tony Smith • Get more from this author

Posted in Music and Media, 11th May 2005 10:04 GMT

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Apple has settled its other music-centric lawsuit, with Eminem. The two parties have reached an out-of-court settlement, it emerged this week.

Apple will pay the rapper's recording company, Eight Mile Style, an undisclosed sum, lawyers said yesterday. The settlement was described as "amicable".

EMS sued Apple in February 2004, claiming the Mac maker had used one of his songs in an iPod advertisement without his permission. EMS also sued Apple's ad agency, TBWA/Chiat/Day; MTV, the channel on which the ad appeared; and MTV's parent company, Viacom.

The song in question, "Lose Yourself", was rapped out by a ten-year-old in an iTunes Music Store commercial shown on MTV in the summer of 2003.

"Eminem has never nationally endorsed any commercial products and... even if he were interested in endorsing a product, any endorsement deal would require a significant amount of money, possibly in excess of $10m," the lawsuit said at the time. It maintained Apple's agents had tried to seek permission for the song, but had been rebuffed. The complaint also claimed Apple CEO Steve Jobs had personally approached EMS chief Joel Martin with a request to drop the action.

Apple will presumably be seeking a similarly "amicable" settlement wit Apple Corp., the Beatles' recording company, which sued the Mac maker in 2003, alleging trademark infringement and breach of contract. ®