Apple, Eminem suit heads for court

Stephen Withers
Thursday, 24 September 2009 05:35

Business IT - Technology

A dispute between Apple and companies associated with Eminem is set to go to court unless a last-minute settlement can be reached.

iTWire reported two years ago that Eminem's music publisher had launched a lawsuit against Apple, claiming that the artist's recordings were being sold through the iTunes Store without proper authorisation.

While Apple has a deal with Universal Music Group, Eminem's Eight Mile Style and Martin Affiliated companies claim that Universal did not have the right to enter into that agreement.

Barring a last-minute settlement, the case is about to go to trial in Detroit.

Apple's position is that it has an appropriate agreement with Universal subsidiary Aftermath Records, and that Eight Mile Style gave Aftermath the right to exploit the recordings in any medium.

But Eight Mile Style claims that Aftermath was not entitled to enter into contracts regarding digital downloads, and that any royalties it may have received in respect of iTunes sales were concealed among payments for authorised uses of the material.