Eminem’s Doing The Most Eminem Thing W/ His $415,000 Lawsuit Winnings

Grammy-winning rapper Eminem is as nice with his generosity as he is with his lyrical skills. The self-proclaimed “Rap God” has decided to donate his recent $415,000 New Zealand copyright case winnings to hurricane relief efforts.

According to reports, Slim Shady will not keep his portion of the financial judgement for his own pockets.

A rep for Eminem said on Thursday that the rapper will be donating to hurricane relief any proceeds he receives from a New Zealand court ruling announced Wednesday. The rep noted that contrary to multiple news reports, the rapper did not initiate the lawsuit. “Eminem was not a party to this lawsuit nor was he consulted regarding the case,” the rep said. “Any monetary settlement he receives from it will be donated to hurricane relief. He encourages the plaintiffs, 8 Mile Style, to do the same.” (Variety)

Earlier this week, a report emerged about Em’s publishing company winning big in its “Lose Yourself” copyright case against the New Zealand National Party.

The political party has been ordered by New Zealand’s high court to pay the rapper’s publisher NZ$600,000 in damages for using a song very similar in melody and rhythm to the 2002 hit single. The National Party used a track titled Eminem Esque for the election advert which the party’s lawyers said they bought from a stock music library. The court ruled on Wednesday that the track was “sufficiently similar” to Eminem’s original work and that it impinged on the copyright. (RTE News)

New Zealand political party ordered to pay $415K for using song similar to Eminem's "Lose Yourself" in ad. https://t.co/LEhyJ5ENsK

— The Associated Press (@AP) October 25, 2017

Reports claim the political group used the track over 100 times in ads.

The backing track used in the National Party’s advert, which appeared more than 100 times on TV during the 2014 campaign, had been taken from a library made by production music company Beatbox. Songs which sound similar to famous tracks – but different enough to avoid breaching copyright – routinely feature in free-to-use commercial music libraries. (BBC News)