Apple Spreads Some Green for Eminem

Apple Spreads Some Green for Eminem — Last week, the Detroit Free Press reported that Apple Computer and superstar Eminem have reached an undisclosed settlement in the rapper’s year-old lawsuit against the computer company. The suit centered on a 2003 Apple iPod/iTunes Music Store advertisement which featured a 10-year-old boy singing Eminem’s Oscar-winning song "Lose Yourself" from the film 8 Mile. The ad ran on MTV for three months during the summer of 2003 and appeared on Apple’s Web site, despite the fact that neither Apple nor ad agency TBWA/Chiat/Day successfully obtained Eminem’s permission to use the song in the campaign. Eminem’s label claimed the use of the song would amount to an endorsement – for which the rapper would expect fees "possibly in excess of $10 million" – and that Apple’s misuse of the material would entitle him to "exemplary damages." The lawsuit also named MTV parent company Viacom as a defendant. [GD]

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