The copyright court case between Eminem’s people and our own National Party over the music behind an advert in the last election made international news in May this year. The ensuing court case seemed ridiculously drawn out, but there was evidently a lot at stake – including possible changes to our own copyright legislation. One memorable highlight at the time was a small feature from American satirist John Oliver, pointing out the hilarity of people talking about a great song as dry as only a court of law could.

Just in case you missed it:

Followed by…

This week the High Court verdict was finally announced, awarding Eminem $600,000 in damages, ruling that the strong similarities between Lose Yourself and Eminem Esque had indeed breached copyright.

The National Party were ruled to have committed three breaches of copyright, by communicating a copy of Lose Yourself to the public without a licence, by authorising the copying and the use of the advertisements.

The National Party is already pursuing legal action against the supplier and licensor of the music who had advised that their soundalike was legally good to go.

If you’re in the mood for something nerdy,  you can read the full court document here.