Eminem’s legal fight with New Zealand’s National Party has moved to the US

You might remember how back in May, it emerged that Eminem was suing the New Zealand National Party for copyright infringement, following the release of a political ad which sounds a lot like Eminem’s ‘Lose Yourself’. While that case hasn’t resulted in an outcome yet, a new case regarding who is responsible for the case’s legal fees has reached US shores.

As Billboard reports, Beatbox Music Pty is currently suing Labrador Entertainment, who are currently operating under the name Spider Cues Music Library. Spider Cues Music Library has notably licensed musical cues for a wide variety of motion pictures, including The Bourne Supremacy.

As Billboard notes, the complaint states that Beatbox became a sub-publisher for its licensed territory pursuant to a 2009 agreement. Spider Cues Music Library allegedly made it clear that all of the musical compositions that they provided were “exclusive and original”.

“Labrador failed to direct Beatbox to remove any music tracks found in the existing Music Library (which had already been circulated to clients) which, on information and belief, Labrador knew or had reason to know that such tracks allegedly potentially infringed the rights of third parties,” the complaint states.

One of the tracks, titled ‘Eminem Esque’, was then used by New Zealand’s National Party for its 2014 advertisement, which in turn, resulted in a lawsuit by Eminem for a breach of copyright.

The lawsuit states that the Australian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society began to deduct royalty payments from Beatbox to account for its legal fees. AMCOS deducted a total of $231,221 from Beatbox, even after they had settled with Eminem’s company for approximately $70,000.

At this stage, Spider Cues Music Library is yet to make any statements in regards to the lawsuit, but Beatbox seem pretty adamant in their attempts to recoup their losses. Let’s just hope that it ends up with the best possible outcome for both parties.

Check out the New Zealand National Party ad in question below, along with hilarious footage of a New Zealand courtroom listening to Eminem’s ‘Lose Yourself’.

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.