A federal judge has okayed Eminem’s publishing company, Eight Mile Style, to proceed with litigation for $109 million against Meta, alleging that the defendant has illegally uploaded over 240 songs to Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
Eight Mile has sought damages of 150,000 per case of infringement, which adds up to a whopping $109 million cumulatively over three platforms.
Eminem’s publishing company is suing Meta for $109 million over alleged unauthorized use of 243 songs
Meta’s lawyers have vehemently opposed the claim, calling the lawsuit “fanciful” and the compensation “eye-popping”. Judge Brandy R. McMillion rejected Meta’s arguments that the lawsuit was too vague and would be unable to survive past the initial motion to dismiss. She has said that the complaint “states enough to plausible claim infringing acts by Meta.”
The Judge further clarified, saying, “Because the Copyright Act gives owners the exclusive right to reproduce their work, storage of the Eight Mile compositions, without permission, would create an unauthorized reproduction of copyrighted material.”
However, the judge dismissed the publisher’s secondary infringement claims, which alleged that Meta not only hosted unlicensed material but also encouraged billions of social media users to add illegal tracks to their posts. The Judge said that this set of allegations does not hold water, as Eight Mile has failed to produce any examples of the infringing posts.
Eight Mile is no stranger to controversies around digital licenses. The publisher previously sued Spotify for streaming unauthorized songs on its platform.
The publisher currently owns 243 compositions by Eminem, including hits like “Lose Yourself”, and may drag Meta into a long and expensive legal battle. With the core infringement claims cleared to proceed, the lawsuit now enters the discovery phase, opening Meta’s internal practices to intense legal scrutiny. The case could become a notable example in ongoing copyright disputes between music companies and technology platforms.
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Originally reported by Sreemanti Sengupta on Reality Tea
