Eminem Sues Apple (Again)

Anyone who has heard one of Eminem's songs knows that making nice isn't his top priority. Now that Eminem has filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Apple for selling his music on iTunes, it appears that the technology giant is no exception.

On Monday, Eminem's producer Eight Mile Style and his copyright manager Martin Affiliated filed a suit which claims that Universal Music Group was never authorized to permit the rapper's songs to be downloaded from iTunes. Allegedly, Apple is not complying with the lawsuit's requests.

"Eight Mile and Martin have demanded that Apple cease and desist its reproduction and distribution and Apple has refused," states the complaint. (Source: dailytech.com)

But will the lawsuit hold water?

Experts say yes. The music industry is beginning to take the position that music publishers, who actually own the copyrights to the music, should have the final say on whether or not songs may be distributed online. Some experts warn that similar lawsuits may come in the future. (Source: betanews.com)

"This is a significant issue in the music industry," said Eight Mile Style attorney Norman Ankers. "This occurs with many artists and many record labels." (Source: eonline.com)

Currently, of the 99 cents that users are charged to download a song from iTunes, 70 cents is given to the recording label. But the label only passes on about 9.1 cents to the publisher of the song. (Source: dailytech.com)

This is not the first time that Eminem has locked horns with Apple. In 2004, Eminem sued Apple for using his song "Lose Yourself" in an Apple iPod ad, reportedly after he refused to grant the company permission to do so.