Kanye West ran into more trouble for sampling an artist’s work without proper clearance. According to court documents obtained by AllHipHop, Donna Summer’s estate filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Ye and Ty Dolla $ign on Tuesday (February 27).
Ye and Ty Dolla $ign sampled Summer’s “I Feel Love” for their song “Good (Don’t Die),” which appeared on the Vultures 1 album. Ye asked permission to sample Summer’s classic track, but the estate rejected his request. He used it anyway.
“Defendants Kanye Omari West a/k/a Ye [and] Tyrone William Griffin, Jr. p/k/a Ty Dolla $ign requested permission from Summer’s estate to sample, i.e., use parts of the song ‘I Feel Love’ and permission was explicitly denied,” the estate’s lawyers wrote. “Despite this denial, Defendants shamelessly used instantly recognizable portions of Summer’s song, ‘I Feel Love,’ on their recently released collaborative album Vultures 1, and in recorded live concerts.”
Like Ozzy Osbourne, Summer’s estate refused to clear the sample due to Ye’s antisemitism and other offensive remarks. The estate raised concerns over the “potential degradation to Summer’s legacy” if it approved the sample.
“Summer’s estate, however, wanted no association with West’s controversial history and specifically rejected West’s proposed use of Summer’s ‘I Feel Love,’” the estate’s attorneys explained. “In the face of this rejection, Defendants arrogantly and unilaterally decided they would simply steal ‘I Feel Love’ and use it without permission.”
They continued, “In their song ‘Good (Don’t Die),’ Defendants re-recorded almost verbatim the key, memorable portions of Summer’s iconic song, used it as the hook for their own song, and released it to the public knowing they had tried and failed to secure legal permission from its rightful owners and had no legal right to do so. Defendants’ actions constitute willful copyright infringement and entitles Summer’s estate to recover compensatory damages, maximum statutory damages, attorneys’ fees and disgorgement of any profits earned by West and his Co-Defendants.”
Summer’s estate sought at least $150,000 for each act of infringement. “Good (Don’t Die)” was removed from streaming platforms following Vultures 1’s release.