College Dropout. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Yeezus. Kanye West’s albums have been described as expert classes in creatively sampling prior work. However, Ye could stand to be better about giving credit where credit is due. A recent lawsuit accuses West of taking other musicians’ work and using it on his album “Donda” without compensating them for it. Bloomberg Law has detailed coverage.
According to the lawsuit, Ye stole DJ Khalil’s and three other artists’ music for two tracks in his 2021 album “Donda”. The complaint was filed by Artist Revenue Advocates LLC in the US District Court for the Central District of California.
The plaintiffs claim the “blatant theft of musical property” occurred when Ye used music composed and recorded by Khalil, Sam Barsh, Dan Seeff, and Josh Mease in the songs “Hurricane” and “Moon” after the artists denied permission for its use. The lawsuit names UMG Recordings Inc. and affiliates as defendants.
Although Ye credited the artists in his album, the complaint contends that he never obtained the copyrights to use the music. Artist Revenue Advocates LLC suggests that the inclusion of credits is “effectively an admission of copyright infringement.”
Cases like these hinge on proving that actual use of copyrighted work occurred and not merely a resemblance. The lawsuit alleges that the songs have generated approximately $15 million from streaming and an additional $14 million from merchandise revenue. For more details on the lawsuit, you can read here.
Previously, Ye has faced legal troubles regarding the use of others’ intellectual property. Resolving such issues early on might not only prevent litigation but also foster a better industry standard for sharing credit and revenues among artists.