Eminem’s Lawsuit Against Spotify Builds More Steam

Eminem’s library of music is incredibly valuable and his publisher’s ongoing lawsuit against Spotify now has even more momentum.

Slim Shady’s publisher Eight Mile Style has been in an ongoing lawsuit against Spotify. This is concerning accusations that Spotify infringed on the rights of over 250 Em tracks.

Eight Mile Style says that Harry Fox Agency is responsible for collecting royalties and they conspired with Spotify to falsify or alter those royalty statements.

Billboard reports that Eight Mile Style alleges that Harry Fox Agency backdated notices and licenses that were never actually valid. U.S. District Court Judge Aleta Trauger of Nashville has already denied a request from Harry Fox Agency to file a lawsuit.

The Judge put in a written statement that all Harry Fox Agency protests are going to be taken with a grain of salt. At this stage the Judge will see Eminem’s Eight Mile Style’s claims as valid.

“HFA protests that all it is accused of doing is sending letters based on information it received from Spotify, At this stage, however, the court is required to take the plaintiffs’ allegations as true, and those allegations include the plaintiffs’ claims about how and why industry practice and HFA’s own reputation allowed HFA’s actions to conceal Spotify’s lack of a valid mechanical license for the Eight Mile Compositions.”

It was also noted that the purpose of concealing this information could be to prevent past infringements from being discovered. “Even if HFA was innocent in Spotify’s first alleged instances of infringement, the plaintiffs have plausibly alleged that its actions contributed to Spotify’s ability to continue infringing over time.”

Now this situation will play out in court. The ramifications of this court case could be far-reaching. If Spotify loses this case then it could dramatically change the way that they do business. Right now they are still dealing with this situation as one of the biggest artists on the planet is taking them to court.