Why Eminem is suing Mark Zuckerberg's Meta for $100 million
Eminem has well and truly proven that he's not afraid to take a stand as he looks set to go up against one of the world's richest men in a lawsuit.
The legendary performer has won plenty of battles in his life, not just in the rapping scene, as he also opened up about his struggles of recording music after going sober.
Eminem - real name Marshall Bruce Mathers III - has already proven that almost anything is possible after finding a number of words that rhyme with 'orange' so he will no doubt prove tough to shut down after his publisher filed a lawsuit against Meta recently.
According to court documents obtained by PEOPLE, on May 30, the 'Lose Yourself' singer's publishing company, Eight Mile Style, filed a lawsuit against Meta Platforms - which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp - accusing the tech company of copyright infringement and seeking over $109 million in damages.
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The filing alleges that Mark Zuckerberg's Meta violated the copyright of Eminem's music through the 'unauthorised storage, reproduction and exploitation' of the tracks on its platforms.
The lawsuit cites the apps' features, including Original Audio and Reels, as tools that 'allow and encourage its users to steal' his music to use in video content 'without proper attribution or license'.
As a result, the company is seeking monetary damages for 'the diminished value of the copyrights by Defendants’ theft of them, lost profits, and Defendants’ profits attributable to the infringement'.
Eminem's catalogue spans a massive 243 songs and Eight Mile Style has asked for the maximum statutory damage of $150,000 for each one which - if my maths is correct - totals an eye-watering $36,450,000. If we then times that by three for each of Meta's platforms, we get the final total of $109,350,000.
The rapper himself isn't directly involved in the lawsuit.
Unless his company is able to win compensation, he will likely tell his billionaire opponent that his various social media platforms will have to continue functioning 'Without Me'.
You may be wondering why Zuckerberg, who is worth a reported $230 billion on the Forbes rich list, doesn't just pay out in this instance, as $100 million is essentially pocket change for the Facebook founder.
But you don't get to be one of the richest people in the world by just handing your millions away, so you can expect him to bring his top lawyers to this case as they prepare to 'Bump Heads'.
LADbible Group has contacted Meta Platforms for comment.
James Moorhouse