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NEWS : STORIES
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09.17.2003 1:45 PM EDT
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Eminem Gets Sued ... By A Little Old Lady
Woman says 'Guilty Conscience' samples late husband's song.
by
Jon Wiederhorn
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Eminem
(Photo:
Interscope
)
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Eminem's mom isn't the only grandma with a bone to pick with the star rapper.
A 70-year-old Los Angeles woman is suing Eminem and producer Dr. Dre for unlawfully sampling music by her late husband on the hit "Guilty Conscience" from Em's 1999
disc, The Slim Shady LP.
In a lawsuit filed last month in U.S. District Court and published on The Smoking Gun, Harlene Stein says "Guilty Conscience" features snippets from a 24-second piece called "Pigs Go Home" that her husband Ronald wrote for the score of the 1970 film "Getting Straight," which starred Elliott Gould and Candice Bergen. The sections Eminem and Dre used compose the background instrumental for the rap song.
Stein's complaint also names Eminem's music publishing companies, Eight Mile Style Music, Ain't Nuthin' Goin' on But F---in', Ensign Music Corporation, WB Music Corporation, Famous Music Corporation, Colgems-EMI Music Publishing Inc., and Interscope Records as co-defendants.
The liner notes for The Slim Shady LP state that "Guilty Conscience" features an "interpolation" of "Go Home Pigs," but Stein is never credited as the song's composer, nor was his wife ever paid royalties for use of the song. Stein died in 1988 and his wife inherited his estate.
The suit does not specify damages, which Stein's attorneys are calculating, but they could amount to well over $3 million. Stein is asking for 5 percent of the retail list price of 90 percent of the 4.6 million copies of The Slim Shady LP sold in America and 2.5 percent of the retail price of 90 percent of the copies of the album sold abroad. In addition, she wants substantial payments from sheet-music sales and publishing royalties, as well as punitive damages.
Finally, Stein asks that Interscope not distribute records with the sample of "Pigs Go Home" and that all existing copies be pulled from shelves.
A spokesperson for Interscope Records declined comment.
This report is provided by MTV News
 
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