Kanye West Sued by Donna Summer’s Estate After He Samples Her on New Album
Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign have been accused of using the song ‘I Feel Love’ on their album ‘without permission’ from Donna Summer’s estate.
Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign are facing a copyright infringement lawsuit after sampling a Donna Summer song on their new album Vultures. The late star’s husband Bruce Sudano, who is the executor of her estate, filed the suit against the two rappers in California on Tuesday, February 27, and claimed that Kanye, 46, and Ty, 41, were not given permission to use Donna’s song “I Feel Love” on their song “Good (Don’t Die).”
According to Bruce, Kanye and Ty reached out to Donna’s estate about sampling her song, but they were denied. “The Summer Estate not only considered the immense commercial value of the ‘I FEEL LOVE’ composition, but also the potential degradation to Summer’s legacy,” the lawsuit read, according to Pitch Fork. It also noted that Kanye “is known as a controversial public figure whose conduct has led numerous brands and business partners to disassociate from him.”
Bruce claimed that after turning down Kanye and Ty’s request, the musicians went to Donna’s record label, Universal Music Enterprises, regarding using the song in their album. The label also denied them, but they still sampled “I Feel Love” on their album “without permission.” Bruce’s suit described Kanye and Ty’s use of the song on Vultures as “an unauthorized interpolation.”
Per Variety, the suit from Donna’s estate seeks to “recover compensatory damages, maximum statutory damages, attorneys’ fees and disgorgement of any profits.” The suit is reportedly requesting $150,000 for each act of infringement. Kanye and Ty’s lawyers have yet to speak out about the case.
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After Vultures was released February 10, Bruce released a statement on Instagram slamming the rappers for stealing Donna’s song. “@kanyewest asked permission to use Donna Summer’s song I Feel Love, he was denied… he changed the words, had someone re sing it or used AI but it’s I Feel Love… copyright infringement!!!” Bruce wrote. After his complaint, “Good (Don’t Die)” was removed from streaming services including Spotify.
Kanye’s new album also features a sampling of Ozzy Osbourne‘s song “War Pigs,” but Ozzy claimed on social media earlier in February that Kanye did not have his permission to do so. The Black Sabbath rocker said he turned down Kanye’s request to use the song because of the rapper’s antisemitic behavior.