Back in August 2019, Eminem’s publisher Eight Mike Style and Martin Affiliated, two Michigan-based companies that own and control a list of Eminem’s musical compositions, filed a lawsuit against Spotify in Nashville’s Federal court. The publisher accused Spotify of deliberate copyright infringement by reproducing Eminem’s Oscar-winning hit ‘Lose Yourself‘ and about 250 of the Detroit rapper’s song on its streaming service, which potentially cost billions of dollars in damages. The lawsuit was also against the Music Modernization Act, a federal law approved last October that was intended to make it easier for music companies and to get songwriters paid, for denying the Eminem affiliated companies their due process belonging rights.
Now the Spotify requested the Nashville Federal court to move the case to New York, which is denied by the Nashville’s Judge Aleta Trauger, ruling that Spotify’s enough contacts in Tennessee, such as their Nashville-based office and all the listeners there who have streamed Eminem’s songs, are sufficient to keep the case in Nashville Federal court.
“The court has no doubt that litigation this case in Spotify’s home district would be easier for Spotify,” wrote Judge Aleta Trauger. “The Middle District of Tennessee has an interest in ensuring that copyright rights are observed within its border. Although there may be some hardships related to litigating in this district rather than Spotify’s home district, those hardships are not so great as to make jurisdiction unreasonable.” Check out the full report here on Billboard.
