Eminem Settles the Ringtone Case out of Court

Eminem has settled a lawsuit filed over the unauthorized use of his Grammy award-winning songs in ringtones without going to trial.

As part of the settlement, which must be approved by U.S. District Judge Gerald E. Rosen in Detroit, Colorado-based Cellus US has agreed to stop manufacturing the ringtones and selling them over the Internet. Because the terms of the deal are under wraps, it's not known whether the company paid any monetary damages to the hip-hopster.

“The provisions of the agreement are confidential," said Mary Margaret O'Donnell, Cellus' attorney.

The rap superstar's attorney, Howard Hertz, confirmed that both parties have reached "an amicable settlement."

Also named in Eminem's complaint were ringtone makers FanMobile, Nextones.com, MyPhoneFiles and MatrixM LLC.

With ring tone sales predicted to reach up to $724 million annually according to a Jupiter Research report, Eminem representatives are serious about protecting their client's interests.

In an encore, Eminem's camp launched a similar legal salvo in February against a sixth company, Florida-based Phattones Media Productions.

Eminem also moved up the release date for his last two albums in an effort to battle Internet piracy.