24/2/09 Trial Over Eminem Digital Royalties Kicks Off

**Sanjiv** Wed Feb 25, 2009 4:12 pm

Eminem is heading back to court today, kind of. Slim Shady's publishing company F.B.T. Productions is scheduled to appear in court to address a lawsuit against Universal Music Group. F.B.T. claims that it was cheated out of money when Universal licensed songs to third party distributors like iTunes and cell phone companies. Most music contracts do not have specific instructions for how much money an artist is paid for digital distributions. With that said, this case could impact thousands of current music contracts.

A jury was selected Friday for a trial that will feature high-profile witnesses like Jimmy Iovine, chairman of Universal Music Group, and Steve Jobs, the chief executive of Apple Computers. Jay Cooper, an entertainment lawyer in the music industry, says "This is very significant case. A lot of people are going to be watching very closely because there's a lot of money involved."

Source:
http://www.rapbasement.com/eminem/022409-eminem-publishing-company-f.b.t.-sues-universal-music-group-over-digital-distribution-money.html