From The New Zealand Herald:
The National Party is battling a ruling over how much it must pay for breaching copyright in a 2014 election ad, which played a song similar to Eminem’s Lose Yourself.
Lawyers for the party are in the Court of Appeal in Wellington this morning, arguing the total damages of about $600,000 ordered by the High Court last year were too high, and that the judge took a “licensor-centric” approach.
The then-Government fought its case in May last year, accused of knowingly trying to sidestep licensing fees by using the track Eminem Esque.
The High Court ruled the similarities between Lose Yourself and Eminem Esque were so strong and it breached copyright.
It noted publisher Eight Mile Style had exclusive control of the song’s licensing, and rarely granted permission for the song to be used in ads.
Justice Helen Cull said the $600,000 would be the “hypothetical licence fee” that would have reasonably been charged for permission to use Lose Yourself in National Party advertising, including interest from June 2014.
In court this morning, lawyer Greg Arthur said an expert the judge relied on when setting a figure for damages had no relevant New Zealand experience, and her base fee was a “significant percentage higher” than it should have been.
Link to the rest at The New Zealand Herald
“We figured it wasn’t worth paying for and we thought we could talk our way out of it if anyone noticed. The fact that we are being treated like any other copyright thief is unfair – we are special snowflakes!”
Yeah, from what I’ve heard, politicians of all stripes are notorious for using copyrighted material (usually music) without permission or license. It’s a bold move to break the law while simultaneously trying to convince people to let you make laws.