Eminem’s managers claim they should get 50 percent of the cut from every download purchased or ring tone sold. The Michigan-based companies, F.B.T. Productions LLC and Em2M LLC, state in the lawsuit they are getting an average 12%. They filed suit against Aftermath Records, Interscope Records, UMG Recordings and ARY Inc.

The suit claims that by contract Eminem’s management team should get 50 percent of all receipts "for the sale of records or other uses of the masters." An audit completed in February of 2006 showed the companies had lost out on $650,000 for the digital mixes and they are now owed more than $1 million, according to the suit.

Representatives with the recording companies could not be reached for comment.

Compensation for the widespread downloading of music and use of ring tones on cell phones is a bubbling issue in the music industry. Rock bands Cheap Trick and The Allman Brothers filed a similar suit against Sony BMG last year in New York that has now reached class-action status.

"The laws we’re currently under never envisioned digital music," said Bart Herbison, executive director of Nashville Songwriters Association International.

Herbison was speaking from Washington, where he and 30 songwriters are gearing up for meetings to push for a digital licensing bill. The bill takes aim at those who download music without paying, but it also will help songwriters and artists get increased profits when their songs are legally purchased over the Internet, he said.

"The digital licensing bill will clear up many, many issues."

It’s not clear whether lawyers intend to turn the case filed Monday into a class-action case, as with the one in New York. Richard Busch, a Nashville attorney with the firm King & Ballow, who’s representing Eminem’s management team, would not comment. He said little more.

"We are bringing this action based upon the specific language of our contracts with UMG," Busch said.

They are asking for a court order and judgment saying they are entitled to half of the proceeds from digital downloads, ring tones and other uses. They have also asked that a jury compensate them for lost revenues.