Eminem and his producers are suing New Zealand's National Party and current prime minister, John Key, for using the rapper's song "Lose Yourself" in their re-election campaign without his permission.
"It is both 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," Eminem's publishers said in a statement.
Defending its actions, the political party said that it has done nothing wrong and will fight against the charges, The Guardian reported. The National Party said in a statement that the music in question was originally published by Spider Cues Music in Los Angeles and sold to it by an Australian-based supplier.
"The National Party completely rejects the allegation that the library music used in its early campaign advertisements is a copyright infringement of any artist's work," the party said.
Ironically, Prime Minister Key has been instrumental in helping to facilitate the arrest for copyright infringement of Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom, but the "illegal spying" scandal nearly spoiled Key's time in office, according to ABC News.
This is not the first time that a political party has used an artist's work without seeking permission first. In 2008, prior to the Presidential primaries, John Mellencamp requested the potential Republican candidate, John McCain, to stop using "Pink Houses" and "Our Country" at his campaign rallies. That same year, Jackson Browne filed a lawsuit against the McCain campaign for their repeated use of "Running On Empty."
