Meta using songs by Eminem and other artists without permission, lawsuit alleges
Detroit rapper Eminem's music publishing company is suing Meta, alleging the social media giant made its songs available to users without permission.
The lawsuit filed Friday alleges that the company that owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp didn't secure proper licensing to store, reproduce or distribute Eight Mile Style's songs.
According to the lawsuit, Meta's online music libraries have 243 songs controlled by Eight Mile Style that users can attach to their posts.
The lawsuit alleges that Meta has known it needs a license to reproduce and distribute music. In 2020, Meta entered into a license agreement with Audiam, a digital music royalty collection firm. At that time, Meta unsuccessfully negotiated an Eight Mile Style license as part of the Audiam license.
The filing states Meta is committing copyright infringement, inducement of copyright infringement, contributory copyright infringement and vicarious copyright infringement, and is making money off the use of Eight Mile Style's songs.
At one point, Eight Mile Style reached out to Meta about the alleged copyright infringement, according to the lawsuit. The social media company has since removed "several of the Eight Mile compositions from its music libraries."
Eight Mile Style is asking for $150,000 for each song used without permission and for each platform where Meta made those songs available, and a court order stopping the company from unlawfully using its songs, the lawsuit says.
Eminem isn't directly involved in the lawsuit.
Meta released the following statement on the lawsuit:
"Meta has licenses with thousands of partners around the world and an extensive global licensing program for music on its platforms. Meta had been negotiating in good faith with Eight Mile Style, but rather than continue those discussions, Eight Mile Style chose to sue."
