By Nolan Strong
Mark and Jeff Bass, the Detroit brothers responsible for discovering Eminem, have filed a lawsuit against Aftermath, Interscope and Dr. Dre’s Ary Inc., claiming the companies have failed to pay millions of dollars in royalties.
The Bass brothers’ Michigan-based F.B.T. Productions, along with Em2M LLC, claim that the labels have failed to pay at least $1 million dollars in back royalties, from master recordings of the musical performances by Eminem.
Em2M is owned by Joel Martin, who also operates Eminem’s publishing company, 8 Mile Style.
F.B.T. signed Eminem to an exclusive artist’s recording agreement in 1995.
Three years later, F.B.T. signed an agreement with Aftermath Entertainment, agreeing to furnish Aftermath the exclusive services of Eminem.
Eminem also signed an agreement acknowledging and approving the deal between F.B.T. and Aftermath, in order for Dr. Dre to obtain Eminem’s exclusive services.
The rapper then assumed all of F.B.T.’s obligations to Aftermath and Aftermath then assumed all of F.B.T.’s obligations to Eminem.
The lawsuit claims that all parties agreed that F.B.T. would remain an income participant in all future releases by Eminem and that royalties earned from Eminem’s releases would be paid to F.B.T., Martin’s Em2M and Eminem.
The Michigan-based companies claim that the labels erroneously charged certain productions costs and other expenses to them, when they should have been billed directly to Eminem.
The errors, which the lawsuit states have been acknowledging by the labels, resulted in an underpayment in millions of dollars in royalties to their companies.
The Bass Brothers, who are being represented by Los Angeles based attorneys Paul H. Duvall and Mark Block, seek an undisclosed amount in damages that could be determined by a jury, if the case goes to trial.