Latest news with #MenloPark-based
American Military News
a day ago
- Entertainment
- American Military News
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. ___ © 2025 Los Angeles Times. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Miami Herald
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Miami Herald
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. Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Los Angeles Times
6 days ago
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
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.
Business Journals
22-05-2025
- Business
- Business Journals
VTA buys downtown San Jose building for more than $60M
The VTA now owns 488 South Almaden Blvd., which last sold for more than twice the price, at $155 million. The former owner, Menlo Park-based Lane Partners, bought the 380,000 square-foot building from Oracle Corp in 2021.
San Francisco Chronicle
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Meta pulls fake AI ad featuring Jamie Lee Curtis after actor called out Zuckerberg
Jamie Lee Curtis leveraged her 6.1 million Instagram followers to urge Mark Zuckerberg to pull a false AI-generated advertisement, and it worked. Less than two hours after the Oscar-winning actor took to the social media platform with an open letter to Zuckerberg asking him to remove a fake commercial using her likeness, its parent company, Meta, did just that. 'It worked! Yay internet! Shame has it's [sic] value,' she wrote in the comment section of her original Instagram post less than two hours after it went up on Monday, May 12. 'Thanks all who chimed in and helped rectify!' The Chronicle has reached out to the Menlo Park-based Meta for comment. Curtis' initial post aimed to catch the attention of Meta's billionaire founder, who she said she hoped would encourage his team to address her concerns and remove the advertisement. 'It's come to this @zuck,' Curtis wrote. 'Hi. We have never met. My name is Jamie Lee Curtis and I have gone through every proper channel to ask you and your team to take down this totally AI fake commercial for some bulls— that I didn't authorize, agree to or endorse.' She shared a screenshot of Zuckerberg's Instagram profile and a photo of the advertisement in question along with her words. The post was set to Aretha Franklin's 1985 song 'Integrity.' 'I tried to DM you and slide on in, but you don't follow me so I've had to take to the public instaverse to try to reach you,' she explained. 'This (MIS)use of my images (taken from an interview I did with @stephruhle during the fires) with new, fake words put in my mouth, diminishes my opportunities to actually speak my truth.' Curtis mentioned in her post this morning that she was advised to ask Zuckerberg directly for help with this matter, and that she 'long ago deleted Twitter' and didn't know any other way of reaching him. The Academy Award winner deactivated her X account last November in protest of its owner, Elon Musk.
