Eminem Suing Jimmy Iovine?!

Eminem is heading back to court today, kind of. Slim Shady's publishing company F.B.T. Productions is scheduled to appear in court to address a lawsuit against Universal Music Group. F.B.T. claims that it was cheated out of money when Universal licensed songs to third party distributors like iTunes and cell phone companies. Most music contracts do not have specific instructions for how much money an artist is paid for digital distributions. With that said, this case could impact thousands of current music contracts.

A jury was selected Friday for a trial that will feature high-profile witnesses like Jimmy Iovine, chairman of Universal Music Group, and Steve Jobs, the chief executive of Apple Computers. Jay Cooper, an entertainment lawyer in the music industry, says "This is very significant case. A lot of people are going to be watching very closely because there's a lot of money involved."

Eminem's legal battle with record label Universal over royalties from digital downloads is set to go to trial on Tuesday, two years after the case was filed in a California court.

The Without Me hit-maker, whose real name is Marshall Mathers, sued Universal bosses via his F.B.T. Productions company in 2007, challenging how much he is entitled to when the label sells his music to third-party distributors, like Apple's iTunes downloading website.

The case could set a precedent for the music industry as hundreds of millions of dollars is potentially at stake for other artists whose songs have been made available for the service.

The trial is due to take place in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, and will be the first legal test of the competing issues of its kind.

Eminem, who is signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Records, a subsidiary of Universal/Interscope, will not be present for the court proceedings, but Universal founder Jimmy Iovine, Apple CEO Steve Jobs are among those expected to testify, reports TheWrap.com.

Universal is the biggest music company in the world and counts superstars like U2, Jay-Z, Kanye West and singer Akon among its roster of artists