Eminem suing Facebook after it used his song in advert to unveil Facebook Home
Eminem is suing Facebook for copyright infringement after it apparently used a song which closely resembled one of his in an advert for Facebook Home.
His record company, Eight Mile Style, claims that the ‘Airplane’ advert unveiled at the Facebook Home launch event used a song “substantially similar” to Eminem’s ‘Under the Influence’.
Eight Mile Style suggested that Facebook’s advertising agency “incorporated said music into the Airplane advertisement in effort to curry favour with Facebook by catering to Zuckerberg’s personal likes and interests”
Following the launch event, Facebook changed the composition of the background music and re-released the video. However, Eminem’s lawyers said that: “the alteration of the Airplane advertisement was an admission that Facebook knew it had infringed on the Eminem/D12 Composition.”
Meanwhile, Facebook has claimed that Eminem’s song was in fact a “rip off” of a Michael Jackson song, thus making them exempt from copyright infringement.
Eight Mile Style branded the allegations “bizarre” and is seeking up to $150,000 per infringement.