Eminem Music Licensor Sues Facebook for Copyright Infringement

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Social media behemoth Facebook and an Oregon ad agency have been sued for copyright infringement [17 U.S.C. sec. 101 et seq.] in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan by the company that licenses and manages the music of 40-year-old rapper/songwriter Eminem (Marshall Bruce Mathers III).

In the Complaint filed May 20, Eight Mile Style, LLC & Martin Affiliated LLC v. Wieden + Kennedy Inc. & Facebook, Inc. (Case No. 2:13-cv-12268-GAD-MAR), the plaintiffs allege the defendants used an unauthorized version of Eminem's song "Under the Influence" from his Marshall Mathers LP to promote Facebook Home, an Android-compatible smartphone software application enabling users to post Facebook content from their mobile devices that was introduced in April 2013. The Complaint alleges the defendant ad agency selected the music to win over Facebook mogul Mark Zuckerberg, purportedly a big fan of Eminem.

According to a post about the suit by Courthouse News Service, Eight Mile Style LLC has brought 10 copyright infringement suits dating back to 2010. In an article about the copyright suit, the THR, Esq. Web site reported that the defendant ad agency claimed hip-hop producer Dr. Dre, who often collaborates with Eminem, wrote "Under the Influence" by allegedly cannibalizing a Michael Jackson hit, "Give It to Me."

Judge Gershwin A. Drain will preside over the parties' discordant notes.

First Fall Sighting of Winklevi

Image via CrunchBase

Faithful readers of this blog know that the Winklevoss twins, Cameron and Tyler, of The Social Network cinematic fame, regularly appear in "TUOL" (see posts on 7/26/11, 6/24/11 et al.).  Well, they're back, with Harvard pal Divya Narendra, investing $1 million in SumZero, a social network for professional investors, co-founded by Narendra and Aalap Mahadevia in 2008, according to an article in The Wall St. Journal this week.

The Winklevi duo, who, aided by Narendra, engaged in a protracted legal battle with Mark Zuckerberg over ownership of Facebook that netted the twins a reported $65 million settlement, have turned their attention to Winklevoss Capital, an investment company fueled by their personal wealth, and SumZero is the inaugural beneficiary. SumZero's membership of 75,000 or so is geared toward private equity firms and hedge fund and mutual fund investors, though a small group of outsiders may subscribe by doling out $129 a month to receive a few investment ideas with the blessings of their authors. Members are required to submit investment ideas to maintain access to their fellow members' tips, according to the Journal article.

SumZero plans next month to relocate into office space in Manhattan owned by the Winklevoss boys. You can't keep a good man down--or the Winklevoss's either, apparently.

UPDATE: Bye, Bye Winklevi

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeU.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts Judge Douglas P. Woodlock last week dismissed the case of ConnectU v. Facebook (Case No. 07-10593), perhaps ending at last the 100 years' war involving Harvard alumni Mark Zuckerberg and Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss concerning the origins of Facebook.

The Winklevoss twins filed a Motion  July 1 for discovery to gain a peek at sealed and confidential files to determine whether Zuckerberg and his counsel "intentionally or inadvertently suppressed evidence," the absence of which, the Olympic rowing twins claimed, deceived them into accepting a settlement of their lawsuit in 2008. Judge Woodlock said the files at issue were irrelevant because the case at issue already was closed when the parties resolved their dispute in 2008. (See "TUOL" posts 6/24/11, 6/23/11, 5/17/11.)

As reported by Bostonbizjournals.com, the Winklevoss brothers each received $20 million and Facebook stock valued at $65 million in 2008 in return for dismissing their claim that Zuckerberg stole the Facebook social media monster idea from them. The July 1 Motion sought access to 2004 instant messages purportedly sent by Zuckerberg while working with the twins on a related social media project.

Bad news for those craving a sequel to The Social Network.

UPDATE: A Day Without Winklevoss...

Image via CrunchBaseA day after Tyler & Cameron Winklevoss, the Olympian twin rowers (a description "TUOL" hoped never to have to write again after its post on 6/23/11) said they would not appeal the decision of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to the U.S. Supreme Court that refused to overturn their settlement agreement with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg of a lawsuit regarding the social network's origins, their attorney has filed a status report with the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts seeking permission to conduct discovery, according to reports by Reuters and Bloomberg News wire services.

The Winklevosses claim the discovery in the matter of ConnectU v. Facebook (Case No. 07-10593) is necessary to determine whether the defendant "intentionally or inadvertently suppressed evidence." The twins and Connect U founder and business partner Divya Narendra contend they were misled and deprived of important documents during settlement discussions of their lawsuit.

If Hollywood can continue to crank out X-Men movies, surely another Social Network sequel isn't too much to expect. Maybe the litigious twins are looking for their own spinoff.

UPDATE: Winklevoss Twins Save Face--Lose Facebook

Image via WikipediaAfter "careful consideration," Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss--America's favorite twin former Olympic rowers--and their business partner, Divya Narendra, founder of ConnectU, told the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Wednesday that they would not seek Supreme Court review of the appellate court's adverse ruling in May concerning their ownership dispute with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg over the social network giant.

According to The Wall St. Journal and Associated Press, the Winklevosses (Winklevi?) have decided to make do with the settlement on which they signed off in 2008 that netted each $20 million in cash and Facebook stock in return for abandoning their lawsuit against Zuckerberg. The Ninth Circuit rejected their challenge of the settlement that they claimed they were mislead into accepting. (See "TUOL" post 5/17/11.)

Hollywood chronicled the dispute among former Harvard classmates Zuckerberg and the Winklevoss twins regarding the development of Facebook in "The Social Network." Reportedly, the Facebook stock held by the Winklevosses today exceeds $100 million in value.

When the Ninth Circuit refused to invalidate the settlement in May, the Olympian twins spoke of petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to review the decision, which sparked criticism in the media that they were out of their sculls, so to speak.

Winklevoss Twins: You Call $65m Losing?

Image via WikipediaFrustrated by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit's refusal to grant them an en banc rehearing challenging the appellate court's order to accept a cash and stock settlement of their lawsuit on which they signed off in 2008, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss will look to the U.S. Supreme Court for a bigger piece of the Facebook pie.

According to reports today in The Los Angeles Times and the Mogulite blog, the brothers Winklevoss (translated from the Dutch: "pampered gastropods") are not about to settle for the $20 million plus $40 million in stock options that courts have told them to accept. The Winklevoss duo insist they were misled about the social media platform's stock value.

So for now, the battle continues between the Winklevii and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, whom the twins claim filched their Facebook idea while the three were classmates at Harvard. After all, the twins are turning 30 this year and can't go on rowing forever, and apparently, $65 million doesn't go as far as it used to, with the price of gasoline and all.

Facebook Addressing Privacy Concerns

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Facebook plans to bolster privacy safeguards for its users, according to a story on www.Reuters.com, but the "opt-out" versus "opt-in" controversy remains unresolved.

In a blog post, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg outlined steps the social networking Website will take to shield its users, including enabling users to block third-party access to personal information without explicit permission from the users. The number of privacy settings required for a user to protect all personal information will be reduced to less than 15, compared to the more than 50 presently required. Additionally, less information will be accessible in the user directory.

Facebook users, however, will still specificallyy have to "opt-out" of default policies that render most personal data accessible to the public.  Privacy advocates continue to favor an "opt-in" system that would require users affirmatively to consent to sharing their personal information.

The Facebook revisions to the privacy settings are expected to occur over the next few weeks.