Meta sued by Eminem's publishing company over alleged copyright infringement
Eight Mile Style, a company that owns some of Eminem's most popular songs, is suing social media giant Meta over alleged copyright infringement.
The lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Michigan, accuses the Menlo Park-based tech company of storing, reproducing and distributing Eminem's music without obtaining the license to do so.
Eight Mile Style, which is based in Ferndale, Mich., is seeking at least $109 million from Meta and a court order to stop several alleged forms of copyright infringement.
Music is a big part of social media. On Meta's platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, people add music in photos and videos they share publicly or with their friends and family.
But the way social media has changed the way people listen to and discover new songs has also sparked concerns from artists about whether they're fairly compensated.
'Meta's years-long and ongoing infringement of the Eight Mile Compositions is another case of a trillion (with a 'T') dollar company exploiting the creative efforts of musical artists for the obscene monetary benefit of its executives and shareholders without a license and without regard to the rights of the owners of the intellectual property,' the lawsuit said.
Meta said in a statement that it has licenses with thousands of partners globally and an 'extensive' global licensing programs for music on its platforms.
'Meta had been negotiating in good faith with Eight Mile Style, but rather than continue those discussions, Eight Mile Style chose to sue,' the company said in an email.
Eight Mile Style owns and controls 243 compositions recorded by Eminem, a rapper and music producer that has created popular hits such as 'Lose Yourself.' Meta did remove some of these songs including 'Lose Yourself' from its music libraries, but other versions of the music including a piano instrumental cover and a karaoke version still remain on the platform, according to the lawsuit.
Meta not only allowed users who upload these songs to infringe on copyright but knowingly stored and reproduced them in its music libraries so users can use the music in videos and photos, the lawsuit alleges. Users have added Eminem's music in millions of videos that have been viewed billions of times, according to the lawsuit.
Meta also unsuccessfully tried to obtain a license for Eminem's songs as part of negotiations with the digital music royalty company Audiam even though the firm didn't have the authority to give them that license.
'Meta executives have actively encouraged such rampant infringement in order to attract as many users as possible to, among other things, make advertising on their services more profitable for themselves,' the lawsuit said.
More than 3 billion people use one of Meta's apps daily, and the company makes billions of dollars every quarter from advertising.
In the first three months of this year, Meta's revenue reached $42.31 billion, an increase of 16% year-over-year. The company's net income jumped by 35% to $16.6 billion in the first quarter.
This isn't the first time Meta has faced legal issues over the use of Eminem's music. In 2013, Eight Mile Style sued Facebook, alleging the social network used the Eminem song 'Under the Influence' for an ad without their consent.
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© 2025 Los Angeles Times.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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USA Today
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- USA Today
Kid Rock, Taylor Swift, Cooper Alan and more are being impersonated to scam fans online
Kid Rock, Taylor Swift, Cooper Alan and more are being impersonated to scam fans online Show Caption Hide Caption Telegram founder Pavel Durov arrested in France Telegram founder Pavel Durov was arrested in France for failing to prevent criminal activity on the secure messaging app. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said her office's consumer protection team has seen an uptick of scams where the crooks are impersonating popular people. A Snoop Dogg imposter got money from a victim in Michigan via Cash App for exclusive merchandise that never arrived. Country musician Cooper Alan has a TikTok telling fans about scammers with fake accounts impersonating him. All of a sudden, an everyday Jane or Joe who is following a celebrity on social media, maybe someone like Kid Rock or Snoop Dogg, gets pinged with a message — and the star strikes up a conversation. Maybe, they noticed your picture on Facebook and think you're attractive. Maybe, they say you're a super fan who deserves a super deal on exclusive merchandise. Or they go so far as to declare that they feel that God is bringing you together. The star wonders if you'd want to buy a special VIP pass to a concert to get to know one another. Or maybe, this celebrity wants to help you and shares a tip on how to make money on cryptocurrency. No maybe about it, you could be about to lose $500 or $5,000 or $50,000 or more to a celebrity imposter. We're not just talking about people losing money to bad actors who impersonate megastars, like Reba McEntire or Taylor Swift. Who is Cooper Alan and why scammers love him Upstart country music singer Cooper Alan launched his music career by building his brand via TikTok and Instagram during the pandemic. Ironically, Alan is now in the spot of having to turn to social media to warn his fans about getting ripped off. Years ago, when he was in the eighth grade, according to a profile in 2021 in the Nashville Tennessean, Alan saw a Kid Rock concert in Greensboro, North Carolina. After hearing Kid Rock, Alan told his parents, "That's exactly what I want to do." Alan went viral in late 2020 after a mash-up challenge on TikTok, according to the Tennessean. The independent, 29-year-old artist has racked up more than 225 million streams, according to his online bio. He claims a "massive digital presence with more than 14 million followers across all social media platforms." Alan told a Tennessean reporter back in 2021 that so far his TikTok popularity was great, all love and no invasion of privacy. Now, though, he's got a TikTok video where he begins by saying that he's "kind of pissed off" about how he's being impersonated by fake accounts and scammers who steal money from his fans. He wonders how far things will have to go before social media platforms will take some action to put a stop to these types of scams. "This happens all the time, and it's not just me," according to the TikTok talk given by the native of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Many celebrities who have built a fan following on social media are running into fake accounts set up by con artists. Alan said he's tired of nothing being done about it. "How many people have to be hurt by scammers/fake accounts before these platforms actually do something about it?" Alan asked in the TikTok. One fan lost $5,000 to a Cooper Alan fake account Alan — who has a show at the Grand Ole Opry: Opry 100 on June 10 — tells the story of meeting a woman who paid for a meet-and-greet ticket at a VIP program before another one of his other shows. She was "super sweet, very nice," Alan said. But then the woman leaned into him and whispered: "Have I been talking to you?" His answer was no. "She then says, 'I think I just got screwed out of $5,000,' " Alan said. Some fake account made it appear that she was talking to him, and convinced her that Alan was asking her for the money. He was in the bad position of telling her that, no, those conversations weren't real. Common money scams: Package delayed for tariffs? It may be a scam. "You could tell the hurt in her eyes," Alan said, "and just the feeling of being tricked." In the TikTok video, Alan makes it clear that he does not reach out to anybody directly. "If you think you're talking to me, you are not talking to me. And I will never, ever ask anybody to give me money. Love you guys, sorry this happens." Fans share their stories about orphanages and love In one TikTok, Alan asked fans who have been scammed or approached by scammers to share their stories. One fan responded by saying: "I had one Cooper asking for a donation for an orphanage." 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Alan noted that he has even received threatening emails from people who blame him for breaking up their marriage or fearing that their partner was leaving to run off with Alan. In another TikTok, Alan said he's literally reporting hundreds of fake accounts a week. I reached out to Alan's team to talk further about why scams are so upsetting to him. A spokesperson responded by email and stated: "Unfortunately, Cooper is unavailable for an interview at this time due to his schedule. We appreciate you reaching out here, thanks!" The contact did confirm that the TikTok I'm sharing with you in the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network, is real. Alan has a long list of concerts, including one at Stix in Ludington, Michigan, on July 31 and another at the Berrien County Youth Fair in Berrien Springs, Michigan, on Aug. 13. 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Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said her office's consumer protection team has seen an uptick of scams where the crooks are impersonating popular people. The office has received complaints about imposters claiming to be Snoop Dogg, Kid Rock, and even a four-star general, according to Danny Wimmer, a spokesperson for Nessel. "The Snoop Dogg imposter secured money from the victim via Cash App for exclusive merchandise that never arrived," he said. The other two imposters, Wimmer said, enticed their victims to buy cryptocurrencies. "In each of these cases, the scammers made initial contact with the victim via social media, and in each case the target lost money to the scam," Wimmer said. Another recent celebrity scam, he said, involved a complaint where the scammer was impersonating Garth Brooks and appeared to be striking up a love interest. Unfortunately, celebrity imposter scams are stealing real dollars from retirees and others. While it might seem amusing to some that a Nashville star could be looking for love in Wyandotte, the reality is that social media platforms built their powerful brands by giving us all the illusion that somehow we're more connected than ever. Somehow, we live in a world where some days it does not seem improbable that a 29-year-old singer would want to chat. And if you're good-hearted or lonely or just looking for a friend, well, you might be more vulnerable than ever to one of these pitches. Free Press staff writer Darcie Moran contributed to this column. Contact personal finance columnist Susan Tompor: stompor@ Follow her on X @tompor.
Geek Tyrant
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Ryan Reynolds Fires Off Hilarious 'Diagnosis' for Neil Patrick Harris in DEADPOOL VR Response Video — GeekTyrant
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Elle
an hour ago
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The New Must-Have It Bag? A Tote That Holds a Book (and Little Else)
After years of appearing in campaigns for the likes of Celine, Chloé, and Chanel, it's only natural that Kaia Gerber would recognize the makings of a good bag. So when she released her own tote, it quickly garnered attention online and off. Its design, however, was of a different ilk than the designer pieces she'd often modeled: Made of natural canvas with a flat bottom and wide straps, this little bag was designed to hold 'your book, your phone, a highlighter, and nothing else.' The book-sized tote—which reads 'Back to literature' on its front—dropped in January as a limited-edition product from Library Science, the book club that Gerber and social media strategist Alyssa Reeder officially launched in 2024. Originally released as a fundraiser for fire relief efforts in Los Angeles, the first run of the tote sold out. Since its restock, the Mini Book Bag is now available on Library Science's website for $35. Literary tote bags—often emblazoned with the names of bookstores, the titles of classic novels, or the logo of a magazine—are no new sartorial fare. But the diminutive size of Library Science's bag made it stand out, along with its prescriptive product description. What more could you need from your bag, as long as it will hold a good book? Plenty would answer: Not much. In the past several months, specifically book-sized mini totes have been cropping up around social media; in the aisles of libraries and bookstores; and out on city streets, where they might be recognized as literary status symbols. In December of last year, the Los Angeles-based book event series Seen Library—which social media and community consultant Jordan Santos launched in 2021—sold out of its mini L.L. Bean totes embroidered with a 'Seen Library' logo (by graphic designer Maddy Pease) at its annual pop-up. In March, The Yale Review—the oldest continuously published literary journal in the United States—launched a similarly small bag, the phrase 'Little Magazine' screenprinted in bright pink font on the side. (The publication says it launched with a limited run and will likely have to place a restock order soon.) That same week, the art book publisher Pacific Books launched a merch collection with the French ready-to-wear label Soeur; it included, among other items, a white tote available in three sizes, embroidered simply with the word 'Books.' 'It's a very common thing in the independent publishing world to put 'books' on your merchandise,' says Pacific co-founder Elizabeth Karp-Evans. 'It's simply, I think, out of affinity and love.' It's as clear and direct a way to signal one's literary inclinations as can be imagined. And in an era when anyone can amass a stockpile of totes without much effort in regards to acquisition or curation, the selection of a very specific tote is an indicator of taste. When it comes to these totes, size really does matter. While Pacific offers its totes with Soeur in three sizes—a large, weekend-trip-friendly option; a medium bag that can fit a laptop (ideal, Karp-Evans says, for a writer); and the mini, which can hold a couple books—it's the smallest offering that stands out the most, and not only for its novelty. 'The way [you] dress inspires how you want to move through the world and how you want to be seen,' Karp-Evans says. The philosophy behind the book-sized tote 'is really about waking up on the weekend and deciding that you're going to pick out one or two books that you love and make an effort to maybe go get a coffee, go to the park, and just sit down and read for an hour,' she explains. Think of it as a tool for literary wish-fulfillment—not just a signal to others about your purported intellectualism. That kind of intentionality was also important to Santos, who brings readers together through Seen Library's book exchanges, book drives, giveaways, and pop-ups. At these events—which she's hosted at home in Los Angeles, as well as in New York, Paris, and London—book lovers can find their next read wrapped in creamy white paper and topped with a library check-out card offering clues about its contents. It's Santos's mission to spark connections and drive community among bibliophiles, given the solitary nature of reading as an activity and especially at a time when social media can foster feelings of isolation. For that reason, Seen Library's events are exclusively in-person. It was at Seen's annual December pop-up in 2023 that Santos first started offering merch: embroidered Seen Library baseball caps. This past year, she rolled out tank tops and the iconic mini totes. Santos was initially hesitant about introducing these items to her events. 'I work in social media and fashion and beauty, so I just see a lot of merch being created, and I feel bombarded and inundated with a lot of products,' she says. 'I don't want people to think I'm starting a brand but using books as a way to start the brand.' The only way merch would work is if it helped her to accomplish Seen Library's goal. It needed, then, to spark conversation. Because Seen's embroidered totes were only available to shop in-person, Santos says that if a person is asked where they got it, they gain the opportunity to tell a person a story about the experience they had at the event. 'Versus, 'I clicked the 'shop' button on a website,' she explains. Attendees sporting the tote can explain what Seen Library is and open the conversation up to any kinds of discussions about books and reading. Santos says the size of the totes, too, was purposeful. A smaller tote stands out in a sea of regular totes—which could more easily give someone a reason to get a new bag. It's also, of course, just the right size for a book, which could be helpful in literary habit-forming. 'When you're carrying it in your hand instead of over your shoulder, you see the book sticking out and you're like, 'Alright, it's right there.' It's either the book or the phone,' she says. 'Having it be so exposed, it's a reminder like, 'Hey, I'm here. Grab me, read me in line waiting for a friend.'' Santos herself is an avid proponent of the always-carry-a-book school of thought. Will Franzier, digital director and managing editor of The Yale Review, is hopeful that the 206-year-old literary magazine sparks some conversation with its Little Magazine tote, too. The phrase 'little magazine' is one that the Review has long used internally. The historical term, Franzier says, refers to small-format magazines that publish a grab bag of literature, poetry, fiction, and criticism—all genres within The Yale Review's contemporary domain. Merch is a relatively new output for the publication. It launched a simple, non-mini tote bag in 2021 after unveiling a rebrand that editor Meghan O'Rourke set into motion when she took the helm of the magazine in 2019—a time when the publication didn't even have a website. In addition to the mini tote launched earlier this year, Yale Review's latest product drop includes two baseball caps and two average-sized totes. But the mini option is, of course, the most exciting. The idea came to the team when O'Rourke returned from a trip from London carrying a miniature tote bag from the beloved UK bookstore Daunt Books. 'She brought it to dinner one night and we both had the same thought,' Franzier says. 'A little tote bag for a little magazine.' The 'little magazine' branding does err on the side of 'if you know you know,' but Franzier is encouraged by the thought that the bag could lead strangers to go down the rabbit-hole history of publications like the Review. 'Little magazines have historically been these really exciting places where essays and literature that maybe isn't being published in more mainstream literary publications can find a home,' he says. He's delighted, too, by the literary world's late adoption of the mini-bag trend that he acknowledges came into fashion several years ago. In 2018, Jacquemus got the ball rolling with its viral Le Chiquito, and by the time its even tinier, meme-able Mini Chiquitos launched the following year, small bags sat on many a stylish person's shoulder. While petite purses have retained their popularity amid the rising dominance of larger bags, like The Row's Margaux and Coach's Brooklyn hobo, the shock factor of diminutive accessories has since faded—but a tiny tote, in particular, still has the power to stand out. 'I feel like everything that happens in the fashion world hits the literary world, style-wise, five years later,' Franzier jokes. The tote's style isn't its only appeal, though. 'From a practical standpoint,' Franzier adds, 'I think it's a really charming idea to be able to just carry with you the book you're reading, your wallet and maybe one other thing, and go out for the day to the park.' That idea fits seamlessly into the modern zeitgeist, which romanticizes logging at the very least, shifting one's scrolling habits off of Instagram to Substack or from TikTok clothing hauls to BookTok. It's not hard to find any number of memes evoking simpler times, before the 24/7 news cycle and certainly before the advent of push notifications. At a moment rife with endless distractions and subsequently burdened attention spans, a day at the park with just a book is a kind of Platonic ideal. No wonder so many people are buying into the idea. New York City bookstore Books Are Magic has witnessed its mini tote—which it launched in July 2024—popping up frequently around its Brooklyn neighborhoods. The tote, a collaboration with artist Todd Colby, features the bookstore's name on one side, and a gentle suggestion on the other: 'Perhaps poetry could be of some assistance.' To date, Books Are Magic has sold more than 1,000 of the bags. Marketing and events coordinator Tiffany Gonzales says that it's popular among many of the book clubs that meet in Books Are Magic. The elementary school crowd often carry it while scanning shelves with their caretakers, but plenty of adults use it as their go-too bag, too. 'We wanted to make a mini tote because I was tired of seeing my chic friends use their little Daunt totes as purses,' jokes BAM co-owner Emma Straub. Daunt, it seems, might have been the originator of this trend: The store launched its first mini totes in 2016, in a limited range of colors, but has since expanded its offerings. 'As with our large bags, the idea initially was to give these away with book purchases over a certain level—where purchases were for children, or to families with children making large purchases—but the bags have quickly become popular sellers in their own right,' says Daunt manager Brett Wolstencroft. 'We hadn't anticipated this size becoming so popular with adults, but of course they are perfect for a book and a pair of sunglasses, say, and we've responded by adding more and more colors and recently adding metallic prints in gold and silver.' At a time when the fashion world increasingly shares space with the literati—when Miu Miu hosts literary salons on Italian women writers in Milan and sponsors a book club in New York—the aesthetic-ization of reading culture can seem dubious, or at least surface-level. Carrying a bag designed specifically for books, after all, does not make a person a deeper or more committed reader. But the intention behind these bags could not be clearer to the bibliophiles who have brought them into the world: You can't judge a book by its cover. 'I hope that when you see a book peeking out of a tote bag, it does result in some sort of conversation,' Santos says. 'If I'm at a coffee shop and I see someone reading a book, I'm like, 'Oh, I really like that book,' or, 'How do you like that book? That one's been on my TBR list.''
