When it comes to advertisements, it’s always better to get the approval of the artist whose music you’re “borrowing” rather than end up in a publicized lawsuit, which is exactly what’s happening between Eminem’s music publisher and Facebook as the company is suing both the social network and its advertising agency, claiming they infringed the rapper’s copyright.
The complaint contends a Facebook ad which was broadcast online on April 4 copied music from Eminem’s song, Under The Influence. The ad, which was called “Airplane,” was used in Facebook’s webcast during the company’s announcement of Facebook Home. Eight Mile Style, which is the company in charge of overseeing the rights and licensing of Eminem’s song catalog, claims Facebook’s ad agency copied the song “in an effort to curry favor with Facebook by catering to Zuckerberg’s personal likes and interests, and/or to invoke the same irreverent theme” as Eminem’s song.
After listening to both the Facebook Home Airplane commercial and Eminem’s Under The Influence (NSFW), we certainly see there are some similarities, but certainly not enough where the song played during the commercial could be considered a complete copy of the original track. What do you think?
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