Another day, another courtroom battle over artist copyright (why didn’t the "The Decade in Courtroom Battles" make it into Pitchfork’s P2K feature?).
Apple Inc. and Eight Mile, the publishing company of a little-known white-boy rapper, began court proceedings last week over who should be allowed to offer downloads of the musician’s hip-hop ramblings. Eight Mile and Martin Affiliated LLC argue that “Aftermath Records, which controls the recordings, did not have the authority to strike a deal with Apple to sell the artist’s] music on iTunes.” The rapper in question, who apparently goes by the name of [Eminem, has generated $2.5 million for Apple based on sales of his music on iTunes.
However, Apple “defended the sale of the rapper's music and denied claims that contracts between Eight Mile and Aftermath did not cover digital music sales.” Glenn Pomerantz, Apple’s lawyer, maintains that “Nowhere does it say ‘only compact discs’... Nowhere does it say... ‘not digital downloads.’” Eight Mile’s lawyer, Richard Busch, reckons "The publisher owns these compositions, not Aftermath. If Eight Mile had a direct licensing relationship with Apple, this kind of nonsense would not happen."
![the artist’s] music on iTunes.” The rapper in question, who apparently goes by the name of [Eminem](http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/whiteboyafricanamerican.jpg){kind=link}