By Sewe Ishola

Rapper, Eminem has dragged the New Zealand’s governing party to court over a music track the National Party used for a campaign advert in 2014.

The rapper claimed the track, that was used was an unlicensed version of Lose Yourself, one of his biggest hits.

The party’s lawyer, however, argued it was not actually Lose Yourself, but a track called Eminem-esque which they bought from a stock music library.

The case began on Monday, with the two tracks played in court.

The 2014 advert featured shots of rowers and a voiceover urging people to “keep the team that’s working” and return the National Party to office at the coming election.

The backing track, Eminem-esque, was strikingly similar to Lose Yourself, which appeared in Eminem’s 2002 film 8 Mile.

It had the same insistent driving rhythm, though did not feature any words.

The track had been taken from a library made by production music company Beatbox.

Songs which sound similar to famous tracks – but different enough to avoid breaching copyright – routinely feature in free-to-use commercial music libraries.

But Eight Mile Style lawyer Gary Williams said the use of the song had been a breach of copyright.

The case is expected to continue for six days.