Eminem's Publisher Sues Spotify For Stealing Over 200 Of Shady's Songs

Eminem’s publishing company Eight Mile Style has just hit Spotify with a massive lawsuit for streaming about 250 Em's songs without a license.

“Spotify has not accounted to Eight Mile or paid Eight Mile for these streams but instead remitted random payments of some sort, which only purport to account for a fraction of those streams," reads the suit.

According to the complaint, Spotify put tracks such as "My Name Is," "Lose Yourself," "Stan," and "Without Me," in the licensing category called "Copyright Control", which is reserved for tracks with unknown license owners.  Eight Mile Style argues it is "absurd" that Spotify wouldn't know who such famous songs belong to.

The "Copyright Control" designation was beefed up with the  Music Modernization Act, which is supposed to make it easier for streaming services and rights holders to come together and figure out who owns what.

In addition to claiming Spotify didn't comply with the Music Modernization Act, Eight Mile Style is challenging the constitutionality of the 2018 law.

“The MMA’s retroactive elimination of the right of a plaintiff to receive profits attributable to infringement, statutory damages, and attorneys’ fees, is an unconstitutional denial of due process (both procedural and substantive), and an unconstitutional taking of vested property rights,” reads the complaint.

Eight Mile is being represented by Richard Busch, who was the lawyer for Marvin Gaye's family in their victorious "Blurred Lines" suit. He's also settled a pair of lawsuits with Spotify which lead to the passage of the MMA.

Eight Mile Style wants profits and damages from Spotify.