The National Party from New Zealand has allegedly participated in a High Court teleconference recently regarding the legal action against it by the famous American rapper, Eminem.
According to a report from New Zealand Herald, the publishers of Eminem will be facing the High Court in Wellington in regards to the case they hold against the National Party. Eight Mile Style LLC and the Martin Affiliated LLC are both based in Detroit and they are the publishers of Eminem's copyrights.
Both the said publishers accused the National Party of using Eminem's music without the permission of the "Lose Yourself" rapper. The National Party continued to deny the allegation that they used the music of the famous rapper.
Back in September, the High Court has confirmed that a trial will start on May 1, 2017. The court will discuss the copyrights of Eminem's music and how it was used on the 2014 election campaign ads by the National Party.
The Prime Minister, Bill English had been asked about his opinion in the case. However, he said that he is not the one dealing with the case.
"That is a matter for the courts, they are dealing with it," the Prime Minister said, "so I do not have any comment to make on it. I have had no contact with anyone related to the court case."
Joel Martin, the spokeman of Eminem's publishers was upset that the legendary rapper had not been asked for his permission to use his work in the campaign ad. "It is disappointing and sadly ironic that the political party responsible for championing the rights of music publishers in New Zealand by the introduction of the three strikes copyright reforms should itself have so little regard for copyright," Martin said back then.
As of this date, Eminem had no comments about the court trial his publishers are facing against the National Party.