This month marks 15-years since Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” anthem jumped from the speakers to the top of the charts and eventually the center of the pop spectrum. Now it’s unclear if a New Zealand judge’s ruling was inspired by this fact, but the decision behind the rapper being awarded $600,000 following a lawsuit for that same song this week, does come at a good time.
According to a press release from the High Court of New Zealand, Eminem’s publishing company was awarded $600,000 ($415,000 USD) after a judge ruled that a political party violated the rapper’s copyright by using a song similar to the hit record in a 2014 election advertisement.
Justice Helen Cull counted the song, which believe it or not was titled “Eminem Esque” and purchased from a stock music library, as “sufficiently similar” to Em’s “highly original work.”