Apple and Eminem settle out of court
Eminem. Photo: Imagine Entertainment
The dispute was over money, and like most civil cases, this one was settled out of court.
After five days of trial in a Detroit federal courthouse, Apple (AAPL) and Eminem's publisher, Eight Mile Style, came to an agreement Thursday night that neither side wants to talk about, according to the Detroit Free Press.
At issue were royalties on 93 songs that Apple has been selling on its iTunes music store under an agreement with Dr. Dre's Aftermath Records, which controls the rapper's sound recordings.
As Eminem's music publisher, Eight Mile Style had claimed copyright infringement. It was seeking to recover $2.58 million — its estimate of how much Apple has earned from sales of the music — as well as damages, which it set at $150,000 per infringement, or nearly $14 million.
Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Mathers III, was not officially party to the suit and did not appear in court.
The case dates back to July 2007, when Eight Mile Style sued Apple, alleging that digital rights to Mathers' songs had been sold without its approval.
The publisher had previously sued Apple for unauthorized use of his hit single "Lose Yourself" in an iTunes TV commercial. That dispute was also settled out of court.
During the course of the trial Apple's attorney revealed that Aftermath has been receiving 70 cents per download and Eight Mile Style 9.1 cents. Apple's attorney said that the publisher had been cashing its checks, which over the years amounted to "a lot of money."
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And TK, this is why you're not on any fo the country's rich lists.
It costs apple no hassle to post a song. If they made 1000 bucks off it, it's still profit.
You'd toss it all out under a "not worth it" clause, despite the fact you don't know how many millions they made, or what lawyer fees and court fees cost them.
Apple seem to be getting into nothing but trubble with Eight Mile Style and Eminem's music. Probably be best not to bother selling any of it on iTune, if Apple made anything they ended up paying it to the attorney's and other parties. Sounds worthless to keep on iTunes.
It's not about absolute money on each artist…it's about "associative sales". If you can't get "all" of your favs in one spot, you might find somewhere else to get the "one" and then end up spending money there on other artists that are on iTunes, except that now your not on iTunes and the impulse buy is made somehwere else. So it's not just a 99 cent sale lost, but could turn into several $$. And if that happens enough times…then it starts to be real money.
Personally I think his music (and rap in general) is worthless, but when the goal is to make money, you want to have all possible artists on board, even if one may be at a loss.