Eminem 1 - National 0

Last week the outcome of the long-running Eminem vs the National party copyright case was announced with the judge awarding the American rapper’s publishing company $600,000 after ruling that the political party violated the rapper’s copyright for his hit song Lose Yourself. The track in question was called Eminem Esque, which was purchased by the party from music production company Beatbox for their 2014 election campaign ad. The judge ruled the song was significantly similar to Lose Yourself, enough to see National penalized. Sam Smith spoke to Auckland University musicologist Kirsten Zemke who gave evidence on behalf of National in the case about the outcome and what this means for music copyright.