Eminem sues New Zealand governing party over Lose Yourself

Eminem has taken New Zealand's governing party to 
court over a music track it used for a campaign ad.

The US rapper says the song, used in the 2014 advert 
by the National Party, was an unlicensed version of Lose Yourself, one of his biggest hits.

But the party's lawyers argue it was not actually Lose 
Yourself, but a track called Eminem-esque which they bought from a stock music library.

The case began on Monday, with the two tracks played in court.

A lawyer for Eight Mile Style - a publishing group 
representing the artist - said Lose Yourself was "iconic" and "without doubt the jewel in the crown of Eminem's musical work".

The 2014 advert featured shots of rowers and a voiceover urging people to "keep the team that's working" and return 
the National Party to office at the coming election.

The backing track, Eminem-esque, was strikingly similar to Lose Yourself, which appeared in Eminem's 2002 film 8 Mile.

It had the same insistent driving rhythm, though did not feature any words.

The track had been taken from a library made by
 production music company Beatbox.

Songs which sound similar to famous tracks - but different
enough to avoid breaching copyright - routinely feature
 in free-to- use commercial music libraries.

But Eight Mile Style lawyer Gary Williams said the use of the souse had been a breach of copyright.

He told the court that emails showed some in the National Party campaign team had raised copyright concerns at the time, but decided the composer, not them, would be liable.

That was "just wrong, in law" Mr Williams said, according to the New Zealand Herald.