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Legal
Audi responds to Eminem lawsuit
By CMU Editorial | Published on Tuesday 7 June 2011
A spokesman for car firm Audi has responded to that previously reported lawsuit filed by Eminem’s publishing company regards their use of Slim Shady’s track ‘Lose Yourself’ in an advert recently aired at a Berlin press conference and subsequently uploaded to YouTube. The car giant’s defence seems to be “but that wasn’t an advert”, which is curious.
As previously reported, Eight Mile Style claimed that Audi had used the track for the advert without its permission. The lawsuit, filed in the Hamburg court, also claimed the Audi ad ripped off an ad campaign by the car manufacturer’s rivals Chrysler, which both licensed ‘Lose Yourself’ for an American ad earlier this year, and also hired Eminem to appear in the promotion.
Presumably asked for comment by the US media, a spokesman for Audi in North America said that this dispute did not affect the American division of the car company, as it hadn’t made or aired the offending advert. Which seems fair enough. But then the press rep added: “The video referred to is not an advertisement”.
Whether than means, Audi plans to claim that its use of the Eminem track is covered by some sort of blanket licence or fair use provision – something like “this wasn’t a sync, it was a public performance of the track under an appropriate licence, or a fair use of the song” – remains to seen.