Eminem sues Audi for plagiarizing song for ad
American rapper Eminem is suing German carmaker Audi for allegedly copying his song “Lose Yourself” for a commercial without permission, daily Süddeutsche Zeitung reported on Wednesday.
At issue is a trailer for the A6 Avant, which ended up on Youtube and appears to show the car driving past Berlin landmarks to the riff from Eminem’s song.
That would be bad enough, but the spot also appears to be a blatant rip-off of a commercial for the US carmaker Chrysler, which was shown during the Super Bowl earlier this year.
That commercial also features Eminem’s music – this time used with his permission – as a car glides through Detroit city streets.
Audi told the Süddeutsche Zeitung that it was looking into the situation, but pointed out that the commercial was shown “only once” at a press event.
Joel Martin a spokesman for Eight Mile Style, which handles copyright issues for the rapper, told Reuters: “We believe Audi not only used 'Lose Yourself' to sell their product without permission, but their spot actually feels inspired by elements of Chrysler's commercial campaign.”
The lawsuit comes at a bad time for Audi’s parent company Volkswagen, which is making a concerted effort to boost its share of the US auto market.
Watch Audi's ad below
And compare it to the Chryler spot
The Local/mdm
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At issue is a trailer for the A6 Avant, which ended up on Youtube and appears to show the car driving past Berlin landmarks to the riff from Eminem’s song.
That would be bad enough, but the spot also appears to be a blatant rip-off of a commercial for the US carmaker Chrysler, which was shown during the Super Bowl earlier this year.
That commercial also features Eminem’s music – this time used with his permission – as a car glides through Detroit city streets.
Audi told the Süddeutsche Zeitung that it was looking into the situation, but pointed out that the commercial was shown “only once” at a press event.
Joel Martin a spokesman for Eight Mile Style, which handles copyright issues for the rapper, told Reuters: “We believe Audi not only used 'Lose Yourself' to sell their product without permission, but their spot actually feels inspired by elements of Chrysler's commercial campaign.”
The lawsuit comes at a bad time for Audi’s parent company Volkswagen, which is making a concerted effort to boost its share of the US auto market.
Watch Audi's ad below
And compare it to the Chryler spot
The Local/mdm
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