Meta states that there is no foundation for Eminem’s music publisher to assert that “Lose Yourself” and other iconic tracks were made accessible to billions of users without authorization, urging a federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit that demands an “eye-popping” $110 million in damages.

Eight Mile Style, a publishing company that owns 243 Eminem compositions, filed a lawsuit in May against the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Eight Mile claimed that all three Meta platforms were hosting unlicensed versions of its songs in their music libraries, allowing users to easily add their favorite tracks to the photos and videos they share.

The publisher is pursuing the maximum statutory damages of $150,000 per instance of infringement, which, multiplied by 243 songs across three platforms, totals approximately $109.4 million. However, Meta stated in a Thursday (Sept. 18) motion to dismiss the lawsuit that while Eight Mile’s complaint “is long on rhetoric, it is remarkably short on specifics.”

“Fanciful estimates are not a substitute for well-pleaded facts,” wrote Meta’s attorneys from Mayer Brown. “Contrary to their extravagant claims, Eight Mile never identifies a single example of an allegedly infringing post or story across any of the three Meta services at issue.”

Meta argues that Eight Mile’s failure to specify instances of alleged infringement should render the case untenable since the social media giant cannot be expected to adequately defend itself against such generalized claims.

Thursday’s motion also contends that beyond these shortcomings in meeting pleading standards, Eight Mile’s lawsuit misrepresents the facts. Meta asserts it did have permission to use Eminem’s songs under a broader licensing agreement signed in 2020 with Audiam, a digital rights collection agency that supposedly negotiated the deal on behalf of Eight Mile.

“Far from demonstrating ‘actual knowledge’ of infringement, these allegations indicate that the Audiam licenses covered the compositions — or at least reflect the parties’ good-faith understanding that they did,” wrote Meta’s attorneys.

Lawyers for Eight Mile Style did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the motion on Thursday. Eminem does not hold any ownership interest in the publishing company and is not involved in the litigation.

Meta’s motion to dismiss claims that Eight Mile Style is “notoriously litigious,” and indeed, the publisher has been involved in copyright litigation before. The company spent years suing Spotify for allegedly failing to secure proper licenses for its songs, but a federal judge dismissed that case in a sharply critical ruling last year. Eight Mile Style is currently appealing that decision.