Eminem pulls slim, shady move

09/25/09 09:33

Eminem is suing Apple. Again.

Eight Mile Style LLC, the rapper’s music publishing company, has filed suit in a Michigan court over Apple’s sales of what's described as Eminem’s "music" on iTunes. The company claims Apple never obtained proper permissions to offer the content, and is seeking damages. This despite Apple’s payment of $2.5 million in royalties, including $466,915 from “Lose Yourself,” the biggest hit from the soundtrack of the hip-hop film “8 Mile.” Eminem’s record company, Aftermath Records, is also named in the suit. Apparently, Shady's strategy is to sue everyone who's ever written him a check.

What’s Eminem thinking? There are several possibilities:

He’s afraid iTunes will hurt his overall sales. Since iTunes is the number one music retailer in the world, this is a rather idiotic assertion. Would Stephen King sue to keep his latest book off Amazon.com because it might ding his numbers at Books-A-Million?

He’s involved with some kind of dustup with Aftermath, and pulled Apple in to help his case. Dumb, but possible.

He’s opposed to iTunes on principle. It’s hard to imagine the guy who actually took money for writing “The Real Slim Shady” has any principles.

He’s hoping for a settlement that will give him a better deal with iTunes. Hmm...

He’s a money-grubbing publicity whore whose sales are slowing down and sees a chance at an easy payday. The plaintiffs are also asking for a portion of Apple’s profits from the sale of iPods So...double-hmm...

Where’s Bruno when we really need him?

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