{"id":3904,"date":"2025-01-28T02:32:08","date_gmt":"2025-01-28T02:32:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/eminem-publisher-sues-car-dealership-over-lose-yourself-tiktok-use\/"},"modified":"2025-01-28T02:32:08","modified_gmt":"2025-01-28T02:32:08","slug":"eminem-publisher-sues-car-dealership-over-lose-yourself-tiktok-use","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/eminem-publisher-sues-car-dealership-over-lose-yourself-tiktok-use\/","title":{"rendered":"Eminem Publisher Sues Car Dealership Over ‘Lose Yourself’ TikTok Use"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

\n\tThe company that owns the copyrights to Eminem\u2019s \u201cLose Yourself\u201d is suing a Ford dealership near the rapper\u2019s native Detroit for using the iconic track in TikTok videos that warned viewers they \u201conly get one shot\u201d to buy a special edition truck.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a lawsuit filed on Monday (Jan. 27) in Michigan federal court, Eight Mile Style accuses LaFontaine Ford St. Clair \u2014 which owns several dealerships near Eminem\u2019s hometown \u2014 of blasting the song in the social media videos even though \u201cat no time\u201d did it get a license to do so.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis is an action for willful copyright infringement \u2026 against LaFontaine for its unauthorized use of the composition in online advertisements for one or more car dealerships in blatant disregard of the exclusive rights vested in Eight Mile,\u201d the company\u2019s attorneys write.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe lawsuit says the videos, which allegedly appeared on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook in September and October, used \u201cLose Yourself\u201d to boost a special Detroit Lions-themed Ford truck, telling viewers: \u201cWith only 800 produced, you only get one shot to own a Special Edition Detroit Lions 2024 PowerBoost Hybrid F-150.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSocial media platforms like TikTok and Instagram provide huge libraries of licensed music for users to easily add to their videos. But there\u2019s a key exception: The songs can\u2019t be used for commercial or promotional videos posted by brands. That kind of content requires a separate \u201csynch\u201d license, just like any conventional advertisement on TV.<\/p>\n

\n\tThat crucial distinction has led to numerous lawsuits in recent years. The restaurant chain Chili\u2019s has been sued twice for using copyrighted songs in social videos, including once by the Beastie Boys over \u201cSabotage\u201d and again by Universal Music Group for allegedly using more than 60 songs from Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber and many others. The hotel chain Marriott and more than a dozen NBA teams have also recently faced copyright lawsuits over the same thing.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the current case, Eight Mile Style pointedly noted that it had previously approved car commercials involving \u201cLose Yourself\u201d \u2014 something of a natural fit, given the song\u2019s connections to the Motor City.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe composition was licensed and featured in a two-minute Chrysler television commercial that aired during the 2011 Super Bowl,\u201d Eight Mile\u2019s lawyers write. \u201cChrysler generated millions of dollars of new and used automobile sales across the world from this use of the composition.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBut LaFontaine\u2019s decision to use the song without approval \u201cusurped Plaintiffs\u2019 exclusive rights to determine when and under what terms the composition may be used for commercial endorsements and advertising,\u201d the company\u2019s lawyers write.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The company that owns the copyrights to Eminem\u2019s \u201cLose Yourself\u201d is suing a Ford dealership near the rapper\u2019s native Detroit for using the iconic track in TikTok videos […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3905,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[449,4435,3310,4436,4434,479,182],"class_list":["post-3904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lawyers","tag-car","tag-dealership","tag-eminem","tag-lose","tag-publisher","tag-sues","tag-tiktok"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3904"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3904\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}