Spotify CEO Daniel Ek To Be Deposed In Eminem Copyright Lawsuit

BYCole Blake4.2K Views
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Daniel Ek, Eminem
Spotify's CEO has been ordered to sit for a deposition regarding a lawsuit over Eminem's music.

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek has been ordered to sit for a deposition regarding a copyright lawsuit over Eminem’s music, a federal judge ruled on Thursday. Magistrate Judge Jeffery S. Frensley felt that Ek's excuse of not being personally involved in “day-to-day” licensing operations is not legitimate.

Eminem’s publishing company, Eight Mile Style, is accusing Spotify of streaming Eminem’s music “billions of times” without proper licensing permission. The lawsuit was filed back in 2019.

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“Undoubtedly Mr. Ek has a full schedule [and] the Court credits Spotify’s assertion that he is very busy indeed,” Judge Frensley wrote, earlier this week. “Yet, the issue of proper licensing relationships with the artists whose work comprises the entirety of Spotify’s business and its sole product is surely also a matter of importance to Spotify, worthy of some of Mr. Ek’s time and attention.”

Spotify claims the deposition is being held solely to “harass and annoy” Ek.

The lawsuit lists 250 songs from Eminem’s catalog, including “Lose Yourself."

Ek will not be allowed to be deposed for longer than three hours and will be allowed to attend remotely. While a trial is scheduled for September 2023, a date for Ek's deposition has not been set.

[Via]


About The Author
Cole Blake is currently an Editor at HotNewHipHop based out of Brooklyn, New York. He began working at the site as an intern back in 2018 while studying journalism at St. John’s University. In the time since, he’s graduated with a bachelor's degree and written extensively about a wide range of topics including pop culture, film & television, politics, video games, sports, and much more. He’s also covered music festivals such as Gov. Ball and Rolling Loud. You can find him publishing work for HNHH from Monday to Wednesday or on weekends. On the sports front, Cole’s a passionate NBA and NFL fan with his favorite teams being the Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Lakers. He also roots for the Yankees whenever he finds himself at Yankee Stadium or the Red Storm when in the company of other SJU alumni. His favorite hip-hop artists are billy woods, Earl Sweatshirt, Cam’ron, MIKE, and Mach-Hommy.
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