Eminem’s Publisher Drops Lawsuit Over TikTok Ads for Detroit Car Dealership Featuring ‘Lose Yourself’

Eminem’s publisher is dropping a lawsuit that claimed a Detroit-area Ford dealership stole “Lose Yourself” for TikTok videos that warned viewers they “only get one shot” to buy a special edition truck.

Less than three months after Eight Mile Style sued LaFontaine Ford St. Clair for copyright infringement over the social media ads, the music company told a judge Tuesday (April 22) that it would voluntarily dismiss the case permanently.

Court documents did not offer any explanation for the move, giving no indication whether a settlement had been reached or if the case was simply being dropped. Neither side immediately returned requests for comment.

Eight Mile, which owns the copyrights to “Lose Yourself” and other Eminem songs, filed the case in January, accusing LaFontaine Ford — which owns several dealerships near Eminem’s hometown — of blasting the song in the social media videos even though “at no time” did it get a license to do so.

“This is an action for willful copyright infringement … against LaFontaine for its unauthorized use of the composition in online advertisements for one or more car dealerships in blatant disregard of the exclusive rights vested in Eight Mile,” the company’s attorneys wrote.

The lawsuit claimed the videos, which allegedly appeared on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook in September and October, used “Lose Yourself” to boost a special Detroit Lions-themed Ford truck, telling viewers: “With only 800 produced, you only get one shot to own a Special Edition Detroit Lions 2024 PowerBoost Hybrid F-150.”

Eminem doesn’t own Eight Mile Style and was not involved in the lawsuit.

Social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram provide huge libraries of licensed music for users to easily add to their videos. But there’s a key exception: The songs can’t be used for commercial or promotional videos posted by brands. That kind of content requires a separate “synch” license, just like any conventional advertisement on TV.

That crucial distinction has led to numerous lawsuits in recent years. The restaurant chain Chili’s has been sued twice for using copyrighted songs in social videos, once by the Beastie Boys over “Sabotage” and again by Universal Music Group for allegedly using more than 60 songs from Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber and many others. The hotel chain Marriott and more than a dozen NBA teams have also recently faced copyright lawsuits over the same thing.