Suspect Eminem himself would have a more nuanced take on this than the ‘of course this is okay’ or ‘this is never okay’ responses it’s getting right here.
Number 1: Hip hop’s built (to at least as great an extent as EDM) on sampling. And while the degree of respect for clearing and getting authorization to use samples has varied over the years and between artists, as a reference point, Eminem’s breakthrough ‘My Name Is’ uses a Labi Siffre sample as its hook, and Eminem altered the lyrics and content when requested to make changes by Siffre (who is gay, and did not want to be associated with homophobic slurs, for example) in order to get clearance to use it. So there’s evidence there is some basic respect for the artist you’re borrowing from over and above just doing the minimum the law allows or asserting your rights over them. So you know, it might have been nice for Guetta to call and let him know, you know?
2: he’s also part of a culture of musical insults and attacks and rap battle dissing, where throwing out names of other artists and making jokes about them (and worse) is part of the game (see my tongue-in-cheek sibling comment ‘nobody listens to techno’, which is an Eminem lyric about Moby of all people). So he’s more likely to just drop a mean word about David Guetta in a track in the future and call it even than to take him to court. Which would have the advantage of giving Guetta an awesome sample he could drop into future sets, and so the whole cycle completes.
I think if the venue is paying ASCAP/BMI, then the DJ can play a recording from that entire catalog. That probably doesn’t apply to an AI-generated track, but it’s how recording artists are generally compensated for appearing in a DJ set.
If he used an actual Eminem track or lyric he would be covered by venue ASCAP licensing. As it is he used a clip that he made himself using an online tool based on a lyric that OpenAI randomly generated, that means it’s probably not even copyrightable, so has no rights issues (unless maybe he breached the ToS of any of the services he used to generate it?) and is certainly not sharing in commercial proceeds with the artist impersonated.
I am not sure what gave you the impression that he didn’t call. I don’t think there’s been confirmation either way. I know people aren’t always familiar with Guetta or EDM, but it’s important to know how prolific and genre blending he and his music is. I would give him the benefit of the doubt. He’s at the top of the list of artists who would do this intentionally, but respectfully to cause a discussion. Guetta has many song collaborations with mainstream artists in R&B and Hip Hop. His full songwriting credits list is huge but just looking at the credits page for who he’s done music videos with should give you a clear understanding of him. He needs to show respect to the artist, but he doesn’t need to defend that he did publicly.
Number 1: Hip hop’s built (to at least as great an extent as EDM) on sampling. And while the degree of respect for clearing and getting authorization to use samples has varied over the years and between artists, as a reference point, Eminem’s breakthrough ‘My Name Is’ uses a Labi Siffre sample as its hook, and Eminem altered the lyrics and content when requested to make changes by Siffre (who is gay, and did not want to be associated with homophobic slurs, for example) in order to get clearance to use it. So there’s evidence there is some basic respect for the artist you’re borrowing from over and above just doing the minimum the law allows or asserting your rights over them. So you know, it might have been nice for Guetta to call and let him know, you know?
2: he’s also part of a culture of musical insults and attacks and rap battle dissing, where throwing out names of other artists and making jokes about them (and worse) is part of the game (see my tongue-in-cheek sibling comment ‘nobody listens to techno’, which is an Eminem lyric about Moby of all people). So he’s more likely to just drop a mean word about David Guetta in a track in the future and call it even than to take him to court. Which would have the advantage of giving Guetta an awesome sample he could drop into future sets, and so the whole cycle completes.