Eminem's lawyers sent a message on Tuesday to ring-tone companies who want Em's number: "Just Lose It."
Attorneys representing the rapper's publishing companies, Eight Mile Style and Martin Affiliated, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court
Detroit in an attempt to stop five companies from selling Eminem ring tones on the Internet, according to The Associated Press . Cellus USA, FanMobile, Nextones.com, MyPhoneFiles and MatrixM are named in the suit. The lawyers also plan to sue karaoke companies that sell Eminem songs for sing-along CDs without first obtaining the proper licenses.
"This is a big business," said attorney Howard Hertz, a representative for the plaintiffs. "We're talking hundreds of thousands of dollars a year."
Ring-tone revenue has recently exploded, according to a Jupiter Research report published earlier this year, more than doubling to $217 million in 2004 with expectations that it will more than triple by 2009.
Eminem has not been seen since early August, when he abruptly canceled a European tour citing "exhaustion". Two days after the cancellation, his spokesperson confirmed that Em had checked into a drug-rehabilitation facility to treat a dependency on sleep medication. Late last week, the spokesperson said there was no update on Em's condition or whether he'd been released from the facility.
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