Tuesday, September 16, 2014 8:36am ET by  
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Eminem sues New Zealand political party for using his song

Eminem has launched legal action against a New Zealand political party after they apparently used his song without permission.

The US rapper filed a lawsuit against the National Party on Tuesday (September 16) for copyright infringement.

They are said to have used his 2003 song 'Lose Yourself' in campaign adverts.

Joel Martin, who represents Eminem's publishing company, said: "Eminem's publishers were not approached for permission to use any of Eminem's songs for this campaign advertisement.

"It is both disappointing and sadly ironic that the political party responsible for championing the rights of music publishers in New Zealand by the introduction of the three strikes copyright reforms should itself have so little regard for copyright."

A rep for the party, who used the track in their campaign to see Prime Minister John Key re-elected, commented:

"The National party will be defending this action vigorously. As the matter is now before the courts we will not be making any further public comment."

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Watch the video for 'Lose Yourself' below: