Spotify wins copyright case over Eminem songs

In a legal dispute that began in 2019, Spotify has come out on top against Eight Mile Style, Eminem’s publishing company which manages part of the rapper’s catalogue. Eight Mile sued Spotify in the District Court of Tennessee, claiming that the platform had been streaming Eminem's works without having obtained the necessary licences.

In response, Spotify claimed in 2020 that it had been misled by Kobalt Music Group, an independent rights management and music publishing company. The streaming platform argued that Kobalt had led the platform to believe that it controlled the rights to Eight Mile's catalogue, which was not the case. In addition, Spotify pointed out that Eight Mile had been receiving royalty payments since 2011 without questioning the transfer of the songs or raising concerns about potential irregularities until years later.

At the end of August this year, the judge hearing the case ruled in Spotify's favour. While it was true that Spotify was streaming part of Eminem’s catalogue without having properly obtained the necessary licences for it, which would in principle make it liable for copyright infringement, much of it was due to the complexity of the ownership and licensing rights applicable to these songs. The judge stated that Eight Mile Style was fully aware of this, knowing as soon as 2012 that Spotify was streaming these songs, and had decided to abuse this situation by failing to try to set things right from the start, and rather chose to do nothing in order to be able to claim compensation for copyright infringement years later.  She highlighted the fact that Eight Mile Style never sent Spotify a cease-and-desist letter, which would have been the standard practice if they wanted to correct the situation. This omission, in the judge's view, was a sign of an attempt to take advantage of the situation for financial gain.

In relation to the agreement between Spotify and Kobalt, the judge pointed out that it did not contain a clear list of the songs that Kobalt was entitled to license. Furthermore, although Kobalt was able to manage the licensing of Eminem's songs, it was not authorised to license his music in the United States and Canada because those rights belonged to another company, Bridgeport Music, which is affiliated with Eight Mile. In addition, the agreement included a clause that protected Spotify from copyright claims relating to the management of Kobalt, meaning that Kobalt will have to pay the legal costs incurred by Spotify in this case.