Kanye West, now known as Ye, faces yet another lawsuit for illegal sampling of music in his album Donda. The lawsuit was filed against him at the Los Angeles federal court by Artist Revenue Advocates (ARA), the company that owns the copyrights to the track Ye allegedly stole, told Billboard.
On Wednesday, July 17th, this lawsuit was filed in the federal court of Los Angeles. It stated that Ye had taken elements of a song titled MSD PT2 and used them in his tracks “Hurricane” and “Moon”. Both of these tracks reached the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2021.
The lawsuit, filed by ARA, claims that Ye decided to use the track without authorization after being denied a license for it. Attorneys Oren Warshavsky and others from BakerHostetler, who represent the plaintiffs, emphasized that the lawsuit concerns more than just non-payment of fees.
They stressed the importance of Intellectual Property Law in protecting artists and their works. “It is about the rights of artists, musicians, and songwriters to determine how their works are published and used,” Warshavsky stated, as reported by Billboard. This case underscores the right of intellectual property owners to prevent unauthorized use of their creations. The lawsuit also alleges that Khalil Abdul-Rahman Hazzard, Sam Barsh, Dan Seeff, and Josh Mease refused to collaborate with Kanye on this project.
Kanye West is no stranger to copyright lawsuits. Despite his musical talent and many successful tracks, he has faced numerous legal battles over unauthorized sampling. He has been involved in multiple lawsuits over uncleared samples and interpolations in his music. Most recently, in 2022, he faced a case alleging that his song “Life of the Party” illegally borrowed from a Boogie Down Productions track.
He was also sued for using an uncleared snippet from “Move Your Body”, the 1986 house track by Marshall Jefferson, on “Flowers”. Additionally, he was sued by a Texas pastor for allegedly sampling his recorded sermon on “Come to Life”.
In 2019, West and Pusha T were sued for sampling George Jackson’s “I Can’t Do Without You” in the track “Come Back Baby”. That same year, he also faced allegations that there was an audio clip containing a young girl praying somewhere in “Ultralight Beam”. He has faced similar lawsuits over unauthorized samples in “New Slaves”, “Bound 2”, and “My Joy”.
Artist Revenue Advocates (ARA) proceeded with this lawsuit after efforts by the aforementioned four artists to receive earnings from the proceeds generated by these songs under Kanye West’s name bore no fruit for nearly three years. This legal action highlights the ongoing struggle for artists to protect their intellectual property and control how their work is used.