Back in May, Eminem went to court with New Zealand’s conservative National political party over a campaign ad’s use of a suspiciously Eminem-esque song that was literally titled “Eminem-esque.” John Oliver talked about the case on his HBO show, highlighting how silly things got in court, but the fun had to end eventually and the judge has now ruled in Eminem’s favor. According to Rolling Stone, his publishing company has been awarded about $415,000 for “damages plus interest” from the copyright-infringing political ad.
Things could’ve been worse for the National Party, but the judge did decide that the group hadn’t acted “reckless” in its use of the song, because it did go through the proper channels to secure it and “sought out professional, commercial, and media advice.” In other words, it was a dumb idea to purposefully use a song that was clearly a rip-off of “Lose Yourself,” but the National Party did at least have the right to use the song it shouldn’t have used.
Here’s the offending ad: