Wellington - New Zealand's top court on
Tuesday rejected an appeal by U.S. rapper Eminem against a lower
court ruling that reduced the damages a political party was
ordered to pay for using music similar to his 2002 hit "Lose
Yourself" in a TV commercial.
His music company Eight Mile was awarded NZ$600,000
(about R5.6 million) in damages in 2017 after a court ruled the use of the
track was a breach of copyright.
The Court of Appeal later reduced that amount to NZ$225,000 (about R2.1 million) and Eight Mile appealed to the Supreme Court.
"We have considered these points carefully but we are not
persuaded that they are matters of public importance or general
commercial significance that would justify a further appeal,"
the Supreme Court said in its ruling.
The track, played during the centre-right National Party's
successful 2014 election campaign and titled "Eminem Esque", was
found by a lower court to have "substantially copied" Lose
Yourself.
The National Party used the song 186 times during the
campaign before taking the ad off the air, the court said.
The Supreme Court ordered Eight Mile pay the National Party
NZ$4,500 in costs.
($1 = 1.5235 New Zealand dollars)