• Fast Company, Friday, September 25, 2009 10:32 AM

Chris Dannen writes that Eminem's recent lawsuit against Apple has a back story that involves an iPod ad and Steve Jobs personally.

It seems that Apple made a commercial in 2004 that used one of Eminem's songs without his permission. It featured a "very cute and hip" 10-year-old boy singing to "Lose Yourself" on his iPod. Jobs purportedly spoke to Eminem's people, urging them to reconsider their objections. The rapper did not back down; neither did Jobs. The commercial ran with "Lose Yourself" within. Eminem sued and the parties eventually settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.

The trial over the current lawsuit, which Ben Schmitt of the Free Press says "could reshape the music-downloading industry," got underway yesterday in U.S. District Court in Detroit. Eminem's Eight Mile Style LLC alleges that his record company, Aftermath, did not have the right to sell digital rights to 93 of his songs to Apple.

Read the whole story at Fast Company »