A long running court case featuring the hugely successful American rapper Eminem has finally reached court.
FBT Productions are attempting to gain credit, and more importantly a slice of royalties, for discovering the young Slim Shady and helping him craft material that appeared on his first three albums.
Helmed by production duo Marky and Jeff Bass, the company helped Eminem gain his first contract with Dr Dre’s Aftermath label and worked with him in the studio.
The long running case has huge implication, with the possibility of the boss of Universal’s Interscope division (under which Aftermath sits) Jimmy Lovine and even Apple chief Steve Jobs being called to testify.
FBT Productions claim they are due various royalty cuts on the rapper’s early catalogue, and the lawsuit is over allegations that Universal are not paying them their full share.
The duo are claiming that Universal is wrong to structure royalties from downloads in the same way they do with physical formats, arguing that not distribution costs are incurred. The distinction is crucial, and would win the production team a bigger cut in one of the most successful recording artists of the past ten years.
In a wider sense, this would have serious implications for the music industry with artists across the globe then being able to negotiate more favourable terms in their contracts.
The court case is ongoing.
