Eminem’s publishing companies have filed suit to stop the sale of ringtones they say are based on the hip-hop star’s tunes.
Michigan-based publishers Eight Mile Style and Martin Affiliated filed documents in U.S. District Court in Detroit against five third-party content providers for directly selling the music clips to consumers over the Internet. Cellus USA, FanMobile, Nextones.com, MyphoneFiles and MatrixM L.L.C. are accused of offering ringtones from “The Real Slim Shady” and other hits without approval from Eight Mile Style.
Some industry insiders said an increase in unlicensed content is a consequence of the direct-to-consumer content industry.
“We’re seeing, as far as pirate sites are concerned, a lot of other sites,” John Scrofano of 3Gupload.com said earlier this year. “We’re seeing a lot of that creep up.”
3Gupload.com sells ringtones, games and other content through its Web site
Lawyers for Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Mathers III, said they also will sue to prevent karaoke companies from using Eminem’s tunes.
