Def Jam Rapstar dev sued for $8m

Record label EMI is suing the developers of music game Def Jam Rapstar in an $8m lawsuit for allegedly not obtaining song rights.

EMI is seeking damages from the ‘theft of songs’ from artists like Kanye West, DMX and Lil Wayne, which were used in the game without permission, claims The Hollywood Reporter.

The legal compliant states that 54 songs that were infringed and EMI is seeking damages of around $150,000 for each piece of work. This means the lawsuit could be worth up to $8.1m.

EMI is also demanding to receive profits generated by Def Jam Rapstar, and is seeking other damages, as EMI says it owns the rights to ‘distribute, display and publicly perform’ the songs included in Rapstar.

Def Jam Rapstar, which went on sale in late 2010 on PS3, Wii and Xbox 360, was produced by defendants 4mm Games and Terminal Reality. The game allows players to sing along to tunes in-game and record clips of themselves.

EMI, which is in the process of selling its business to Sony and UMG, filed the lawsuit at the New York federal court last week. It said it previously notified the developers of the importance of obtaining song rights and said its demands were ignored.