Re: Eminem Suit Vs Apple, Viacom Can Proceed
Eminem Suit Vs. Apple, Viacom Can Proceed -Lawyer
Eminem Suit Vs. Apple, Viacom Can Proceed -Lawyer
Tue May 18, 6:45 PM ET Add Entertainment - Reuters to My Yahoo!
DETROIT (Reuters) - Rap singer Eminem (news - web sites)'s lawsuit against Apple Computer Inc. charging that the company used his hit song in a TV ad without his permission can proceed, his lawyer said on Tuesday, citing a federal judge's ruling.
Attorney Howard Hertz told Reuters that U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor ruled on Monday that the suit brought by 8 Mile Style, Eminem's publishing company, can continue against Apple, MTV parent company Viacom Inc. and advertising agency TBWA/Chiat/Day.
The lawsuit claims Apple, in a television ad for its iTunes music store which aired on MTV last year, featured a young boy with an iPod portable music player singing the lyrics to "Lose Yourself," the theme song for Eminem's hit movie "8 Mile" released in 2003. The ad was also posted on Apple's Web site, the suit says.
"We were pleased that the judge recognized that the use of the song in the commercials could be a false endorsement, as we believe it was," Hertz, the lawyer for Eminem's publishing company, told Reuters.
An spokesman for Cupertino, California-based Apple declined to comment.
Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Mathers III, has never nationally promoted any commercial product, and his endorsement could be worth more than $10 million, the lawsuit said.
No date has been set for the trial to begin, and Hertz declined to comment when asked about a possible out-of-court settlement