Spotify Defeats Eminem Publisher’s Copyright Infringement Claims

Rapper Eminem’s publisher’s copyright infringement claims against Spotify are barred because it made a “strategic choice” to manufacture damages, a federal judge ruled.

Eight Mile Style LLC was either aware that Spotify was committing infringement of Eminem’s music or aware the streamer was probably infringing and declined to investigate because it preferred the infringement to continue, Judge Aleta A. Trauger said in an opinion Thursday in the US District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.

Either way, Trauger said, was consistent with applying equitable estoppel to block the publisher’s claims.

“Eight Mile Style, as a sophisticated actor with substantial ...