Eminem has battled pneumonia and obesity rumors during the two year hiatus since he’s released any new material, and now it appears copyright infringement can be added to the list. Belgian violinist Raymond Vincent claims that Eminem’s 2001 single “Cleanin’ Out My Closet” either copied or interpolated 160 measures of a song from 1968 entitled “Daydream.” Billboard reports that in 2003 Vincent appealed to the Belgian Society of Authors Composers and Publishers (SABAM) to have royalties blocked from the song’s composers, Eminem and producer Jeff Bass.
A SABAM judgment in favor of Vincent was overturned by the Brussels Court of Appeals in December of 2007, but due to the initial ruling, some international publishing societies still continue to withhold royalties from both Eminem and Bass. The international royalties from “Cleanin’ Out My Closet” could add up to a substantial amount, since the single was released from The Eminem Show, which has certified sales of over 8 million domestically.
Two key issues lie at the heart of the matter. Experts who have analyzed Vincent’s work agree that his composition borrows heavily from Russian Classical composer Tchaikovsky. This would make it virtually impossible for Vincient to claim someone sampled from his work, when it is not entirely original either. SABAM is also controlled by the Belgian Ministry of Economics. This legal loophole would allow SABAM to continue to suggest that other international publishing societies withhold Eminem’s royalties, despite the case being reversed last year. Both issues could tie up millions of dollars in international royalties, in what is essentially an international case of one artist’s word against another’s.
“I was in the studio with Jeff and Marshall,” says Joel Martin, who handles Eminem’s domestic publishing. “It was absurd that they used any portion of an obscure Belgian song [written] before Marshall was born. And if rappers were to use old records, they would use the records. They don’t steal a melody.”
