Eminem suit targets Apple

Eminem's music publisher filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against Apple Computer Inc. on Monday, alleging the computer giant violated copyrights by allowing unauthorized downloads of the Detroit rapper's songs onto iPods.

The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Detroit is the latest move by Eminem's music publishers to aggressively protect the rights to his music.

A top California entertainment lawyer, Owen Sloane of Berger Kahn, said the Eminem lawsuit is likely a sign of more to come in the music industry as artists and those with the rights to their compositions fight for a bigger share of revenues from the burgeoning music download industry.

A "burning issue" in the music industry today is whether the rights record labels hold to sell a recording artist's CDs include the rights to authorize music downloads, or whether further permission is needed from the music publishers who hold the copyrights to the lyrics and sheet music.

"There are a number of unresolved issues," said Sloane, of Marina del Ray, who has negotiated recording deals for artists such as Elton John, Kenny Rogers and Bonnie Raitt. "You're going to see more of these suits."

Typically, Apple collects 99 cents each time an iPod owner downloads a song, with Apple paying 70 cents of that amount to the recording label, Sloane said. The recording label, in turn, typically pays 9.1 cents to the music publisher, he said.

In their complaint filed Monday, Eminem's music publisher and copyright manager, Eight Mile Style LLC and Martin Affiliated LLC, allege that although Apple pays a portion of the revenues it collects from Eminem downloads to recording giant Universal Music Group, Eight Mile Style and Martin Affiliated have never authorized Universal to allow the downloads.

"Eight Mile and Martin have demanded that Apple cease and desist its reproduction and distribution and Apple has refused," the complaint alleges.

An Apple spokesman had no immediate comment.

Eight Mile Style and Martin also sued Apple in 2004 over the computer maker's use of the Eminem song "Lose Yourself" in a TV commercial for Apple's iTunes music store.

A year later, the same companies sued five companies to stop them from selling Eminem song ring tones over the Internet.

Both of the earlier cases were settled out of court.

Sloane said a related issue is how the 60.9 cents the recording label has left after it pays the music publisher should be divided between the recording label and the artist. If downloads are treated as licensing agreements, the 60.9 cents would be split equally, Sloane said. But if a download is treated as a sale, which is typical, the artist only gets a royalty, or a much smaller share of the 60.9 cents, he said.

Lawyers for Eight Mile and Martin could not be reached for comment.

You can reach Paul Egan at (313) 222-2069 or pegan@detnews.com">pegan@detnews.com.