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Ruling Favors Eminem In Royalty Lawsuit

A federal appeals court has found Eminem's former production company is entitled to more money from downloads of the rapper's songs and ringtones.

A federal jury last year had ruled against F.B.T. Productions LLC in its lawsuit against Universal Music Group seeking a greater share of revenue from downloads made between 2003 and 2008.

But the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found Friday that F.B.T.'s contract entitled Eminem and his producers to a 50-50 split with Universal for recordings licensed to digital distributors such as Apple Inc.'s iTunes.

The record label had paid F.B.T. and Eminem 12 percent of sales, the agreed-upon rate for physical albums.

F.B.T. discovered Eminem in 1995 before he signed in 1998 with Dr. Dre's Aftermath Records. Universal's Interscope Records distributes Aftermath recordings.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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