New York, NY - A federal judge found the hip-hop magazine The Source in contempt of court for violating an order not to publish racially charged lyrics from a recording made by rapper Eminem as a youth.

The magazine published the full lyrics on its Web site in January, violating a temporary restraining order issued by U.S. District Judge Gerard Lynch in December in a copyright dispute between the magazine and the rapper.

In a pair of rulings made public Wednesday, Lynch ordered The Source to pay legal fees to Shady Records Inc., Eminem's label.

But the judge denied a request by Shady Records to fine the magazine thousands of dollars because the magazine quickly removed the lyrics in January when lawyers complained.

The dispute concerns two recordings made by Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Mathers, as a teenager. They included lyrics that deride black women.

Eminem, now 31, has said the recording was "foolishness" that he made as a teenager out of anger and frustration after breaking up with a black girlfriend.

In a companion ruling, the same judge dismissed a countersuit filed by The Source against Shady Records and Eminem himself, in which the magazine claimed it held the rights to the songs.

The judge compared Eminem to Benny Goodman, Elvis Presley and Paul Simon in finding success in musical genres pioneered by black artists. But he said the First Amendment protects the rapper's "musical commentaries on life."

"It is for fans of hip-hop, and not for this court, to decide what if anything this episode means for their opinions of Mathers as a man and as an artist," the judge wrote.

In a ruling in December, the judge, allowed the magazine to publish limited excerpts from the lyrics and to distribute CDs containing small clips of the songs.

Michael S. Elkin, a lawyer for The Source, defended the publication of the lyrics.

"The Source had every right to publish the material it did release to inform the public about who Eminem is," he told The New York Times for Thursday editions.

Shady Records declined comment.

Source: Hollywood Reporter