Eminem Raps Apple and MTV Over Ad

By Todd Peterson

Tuesday February 24, 2004 11:47 AM EST

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Apparently when Eminem sang "Lose Yourself," he didn't mean in an iPod.

Eight Mile Style, the 31-year-old rapper's music publishing arm, is suing Apple Computer, MTV (along with its corporate parent Viacom) and advertising agency TBWA/Chiat/Day, claiming they wrongfully used his song for a commercial.

The suit, filed on Friday in U.S. District Court in Detroit, raps MTV and Apple for a TV commercial in which a young music fans sang the words of Eminem's hit song "Lose Yourself" while listening to an iPod. The ad was a commercial for Apple Computer's pay-per-download music software, iTunes, the Associated Press reports.

The commercial aired on MTV in July 2003 and ran for at least three months, the suit claims, and it also appeared on Apple's Web site.

According to the 15-page lawsuit, "Eminem has never nationally endorsed any commercial products." If he did decide to endorse a particular product, the suit continued, it would require "a significant amount of money, possibly in excess of $10 million."

The computer company apparently was in discussions with representatives for the hip-hop star about using the song, according to AP. The lawsuit includes a May 7 e-mail to the manager of Eight Mile Style from an executive at the ad agency that reads: "So to confirm, you guys are a definite 'no' for the campaign as it is (The young boy rapping 'Lose Yourself'.)"

None of the defendants have issued comments on the case yet.