Eminem, through his publishing company Eight Mile Style, engaged in a five-year legal battle with Spotify over claims that the platform had been streaming his music without proper licensing. The lawsuit, filed in 2019, accused Spotify of streaming 243 of Eminem’s songs, including hits like “Lose Yourself” and “Without Me,” without securing the necessary licenses. Eight Mile Style was seeking £30m damages, alleging Eminem had not been properly paid for billions of streams.
This ruling ran contrary to the court’s very validation that Spotify, in fact, did not have a license to stream the songs in question. The court then ruled that Spotify would not be liable for any unpaid royalties. Any fines would instead be paid by Kobalt Music Group, which had been handling Eminem’s royalty payments. It reported a complex rights management system wherein Kobalt could collect royalty payments but was not licensed to issue licenses for streaming the music in the U.S. and Canada.
This licensing responsibility had been transferred to another entity, Bridgeport Music, but Eight Mile failed to notify Spotify or send cease-and-desist letters during the relevant time period.
Judge Aleta A. Trauger decided that Eight Mile was “in a position to clear up any misunderstanding and took no action, likely to obtain greater damages” in the case. Though Spotify’s practices concerning the song were questionable, the court felt that it was primarily the manner in which the rights were managed on behalf of Eight Mile that caused the confusion.
Interestingly, Eminem himself did not directly file the complaint and actually first learned about the action when it was filed. Music Availability: Throughout the pendency of these proceedings, Eminem’s music remained available on Spotify; he remained one of the most popularly streamed artists on Spotify.
