DOCUMENT: Crime

Eminem Raps The Source. Again.

Magazine ordered to pay rap star $131K in copyright beef

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Eminem Raps The Source. Again.

SEPTEMBER 13--The Source magazine, which already has a tough time with the prompt payment of its bills, has been ordered to write the most unpalatable of all checks, a six-figure one payable to Mr. Marshall Mathers, the hip-hop publication's archenemy.

U.S. District Court Judge Gerard Lynch last month ordered the magazine to pay Mathers (aka Eminem) $131,388 to cover legal fees incurred in connection with a copyright lawsuit filed last December by the music superstar.

The hefty judgment came two months after Lynch ruled that The Source had violated a court order barring the magazine from publishing the complete lyrics to unreleased songs recorded by the 31-year-old Eminem when he was a teenager. One of those ancient raps stated that, "black girls are dumb, and white girls are good chicks"--proof, The Source claimed, that the rapper was racist.

Lynch's order, a copy of which you'll find below, is a major victory for Eminem in his lengthy feud with The Source and owners David Mays and Raymond "Benzino" Scott. Of course, things could have been worse for The Source, since Eminem's Shady Records had been seeking about $175,000 in legal fees, a figure Lynch reduced by a quarter.

Here's hoping that the rapper's new album, due November 16, addresses his recent vanquishment of The Source in Em's usually measured and thoughtful manner. (6 pages)