A copyright infringement battle between Eminem’s record label Eight Mile Style and Apple Inc. kicked off on Friday in Detroit federal district court. Eight Mile Style claims Apple did not have a license to reproduce and sell 93 Eminem songs, for which it contends Apple has earned $2.58 million from iTunes downloads. Aftermath Records, founded by rapper and producer Dr. Dre, is also a defendant in the case. [Hat Tip: the Detroit Free Press]
In his opening statement, Eight Mile attorney Richard Busch of Nashville’s King & Ballow said that Eminem’s contract with Aftermath did not authorize the company to make his songs available for download on the iTunes service, the Free Press reports. Apple attorney Glenn Pomerantz of Munger, Tolles & Olson countered that Apple has a license on the songs, and that Eight Mile Style made 9 cents from each Eminem rap downloaded via iTunes.
