From “Lose Yourself” to “Till I Collapse”, Eight Mile Style says Meta has been letting users post Eminem’s music without a license — and they want them to pay.
Meta has landed in hot water with Eminem’s old music publisher, Eight Mile Style. The Ferndale-based company filed a lawsuit in federal court last week, accusing Meta of using Eminem’s music across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp without the proper licenses.
The lawsuit claims Meta made tracks like “Till I Collapse” and “Lose Yourself” available in its music libraries, allowing users to post them in videos and reels — some of which have been viewed billions of times. While Meta reportedly removed some tracks after being contacted, instrumental and karaoke versions remain live.
Eight Mile Style says Meta sourced the music through a 2020 deal with licensing firm Audiam but insists Audiam was not authorised to strike that agreement on their behalf. The suit argues Meta not only allowed the songs to be used but “actively encouraged” them by promoting them through trending features and algorithm-driven suggestions.
“Meta’s years-long and ongoing infringement of the Eight Mile Compositions is another case of a trillion (with a ‘T’) dollar company exploiting the creative efforts of musical artists for the obscene monetary benefit of its executives and shareholders without a license and without regard to the rights of the owners of the intellectual property”, the complaint states.
This is not Eight Mile Style’s first courtroom battle. Co-founded by Eminem’s early producers, the Bass Brothers, the company controls the publishing rights for Marshall’s early catalogue, including music from “The Slim Shady LP”, “The Marshall Mathers LP”, “The Eminem Show”, and “Encore”. Known for aggressively protecting those rights, Eight Mile Style has filed multiple lawsuits over the years — including a 2013 dispute with Facebook over a commercial using a track similar to “Under the Influence”. That case was quietly settled out of court, as were many others.
However, not every case has gone their way. Most recently, Eight Mile Style took Spotify to court over royalty disputes — and lost.
Eminem himself is not named in the Meta lawsuit, but his music is at the heart of the issue. The publisher is seeking damages based on Meta’s advertising profits or statutory copyright penalties, along with a permanent injunction to stop future use of the tracks. The company is seeking statutory damages of up to $150,000 per track. As a result, potential damage for violating the copyright of 243 songs across three platfroms might amount to $109 million.
Eight Mile Style calls Eminem’s early catalogue “some of the most valuable in the world”, and they do not seem likely to back down without a fight. Or without a pay-off.
