Eminem‘s publishing company has finally ended their five-year-long battle with Spotify over streaming royalties – and it did not go in their favor.
Eight Mile Style filed suit against the streaming giant in 2019 for around $40 million, accusing them of owing money for billions of streams and saying that Spotify “deceptively” claimed to have the proper licenses to some of Em’s songs when they didn’t.
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Unfortunately, Music Business Worldwide reports that a Tennessee judge has ruled in Spotify’s favor – even though he admitted that they did not have the proper song licenses.
“While Spotify’s handling of composer copyrights appears to have been seriously flawed, any right to recover damages based on those flaws belongs to those innocent rights holders who were genuinely harmed,” Judge Aleta A. Trauger said. “Not ones who, like Eight Mile Style, had every opportunity to set things right and simply chose not to do so for no apparent reason, other than that being the victim of infringement pays better than being an ordinary licensor.”
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Trauger put the blame on Kobalt Music Group, which is a royalty collection agency obtained by Em’s imprint. Spotify also blamed them in their 2020 response to the lawsuit, saying it had been licensed by the collection agency to “reproduce and distribute the compositions.”
With Spotify cleared of liability, it’s expected that Kobalt will be required to cover some of the legal fees and expenses.
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In other news, Eminem’s mother Debbie Mathers is reportedly terminally ill after being diagnosed with lung cancer.
According to a report from In Touch Weekly, Debbie, who famously has a troubled relationship with her son, does not have long left to live.
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A source tells the publication: “There are not many options [for Debbie]. She is currently staying between the cancer center and with family members. She has a very limited amount of time [left].”
The report adds that while Eminem has been taking care of his 69-year-old mother financially for a number of years, the rap legend has not had contact with her for a long time.
“People around her aren’t even sure if Eminem is even aware of what is happening to his mother. He’s good to his mom. He makes sure he takes care of her, but they don’t really talk,” the source says.
“It would be good for both of them [to communicate]. This could give them the chance to reconcile.”
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Debbie was previously diagnosed with breast cancer, telling The Village Voice in 2018: “I’m still under doctor’s care, which I probably will be for a while. Basically a lot of the stuff is hereditary, but that happens. Cancers and heart disease and all that, and all the genetic things … I worry about my boys, having high blood pressure and things.”
The two have had a publicly complicated relationship for years, with Eminem making his mother a subject in many of his songs.
