

The National Party was instrumental in passing the harsh "strict liability" NZ copyright laws that offer no relief from liability, even for people who buy licenses that turn out to have been offered in error — as appears to be the case in the National Party campaign ad that used Lose Yourself for bed music.

National Party bought the license for Lose Yourself from Beatbox through Apra/Amcos, the major NZ/AU music licensing body, but Eminem's publishers say that the license did not cover campaign ads. The suit could result in a five-figure payout to Eminem.

Copyright lawyer Chris Hocquard, who founded Dominion Law in Auckland, said although the National Party thought it was doing everything right, the party could still be in the wrong. "Unfortunately, from a legal perspective, the fact that they didn't think they were doing anything wrong doesn't mean they weren't doing anything wrong – it just means they can turn around and blame someone else later on."

National Party sued over Eminem copyright infringment [Nikki Papatsoumas/NZ Herald]

(Thanks, Juha!)

(Image: Demi Lovato & Eminem MANIP, Leticia Lima, CC-BY)