Throughout the course of his career, American rapper Kanye West has been recognized for his frequent and skillful use of sampling, or the practice of taking of parts from other songs to incorporate into his own.[1] Following the release of The Life of Pablo in 2016, Vice Media wrote: "West's knack for picking samples, both obscure and unexpected, (and the right producers to turn them into chart-topping hits) remains unparalleled."[2]
However, West has also been involved in many disputes, some legal, over the lack of formal authorization for his samples. Several of West's most well-known songs, such as "Gold Digger" and "Bound 2," have been involved in cases of copyright infringement due to issues pertaining to sample clearance, while other samples were still used willfully by West despite him having been denied permission for them. Spanning songs across two decades from Late Registration to the Vultures series, most cases of West's illegal sampling in his music have arrived at private settlements, while others have successfully demanded that songs be withdrawn from circulation or modified under threat of legal action.
In April 2013, two family members of late musician David Pryor—Trena Steward and Lorenzo Pryor—sued West on the grounds that "Gold Digger" used an unauthorized sample from "Bumpin' Bus Stop," a song from Pryor's group called Thunder And Lightning.[5][6] Pryor had passed away in 2006, one year after "Gold Digger" was released; it would take six years until his estate was probated, thus allowing his two family members to file.[7] The lawsuit was filed in the Los Angeles County Superior Court.[8] In it, Pryor's two family members stated that a portion of "Bumpin' Bus Stop" in which Pryor says "get down" three times, which appears 13 seconds into the song, was appropriated for the "Gold Digger" line: "Get down girl, get down, get down."[9][10]
The case was eventually dismissed in 2014. The judge ruled that West's sample was used de minimis, "meaning so short that they didn't count as copyright infringement", and stated that "the average audience would not recognize plaintiffs' song in any of defendants’ songs without actively searching for it."[11]
"Gone"
In May 2008, Joe Farrell's daughter, Kathleen Firrantello, accused West of having sampled "Upon This Rock," a 1974 song by Farrell, for West's "Gone." Firrantello sought damages up to $1,000,000 and demanded "no more copies of the songs be made, sold or performed."[12] The case also implicated three other rappers and their respective songs: Common's "Chi-City," as well as Method Man and Redman's "Run 4 Cover."[13]
Firrantello and West reached a settlement in 2010.[11]
Richard D. James, known by his stage name of Aphex Twin, claimed that West tried to sample the piano melody of "Avril 14th" for his song "Blame Game" featuring John Legend and Chris Rock without compensation.[17] James had offered to re-polish and even re-record "Avril 14th" for West's team, to which West's team acted "rude" toward James and acted as though the sample was theirs to freely use: "They totally didn't even say 'hello' or 'thanks'... they just replied with, 'It's not yours, it's ours, and we're not even asking you any more.'"[18]
In October 2011, blues and soul artist Syl Johnson accused West and Jay-Z of sampling Johnson's 1967 song "Different Strokes" for their song "The Joy".[20][21] Johnson claimed the sample was used without permission, credit, and payment to him; he additionally stated that West had previously tried to seek permission to sample "Different Strokes" on a song for the 2010 album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy but was denied back then as well, making his potential copyright infringement willful.[22] The case was filed on October 14 in Illinois federal court.[23] Johnson sought "injunction, actual and punitive damages and attorney's fees."[24]
That December, West and Jay-Z denied Johnson's accusations and claimed he had no copyright to infringe upon due to the song's recording prior to 1972. However, both parties would eventually settle privately for an undisclosed amount in March 2012.[25][26]
Yeezus
Track
Sample
Ref
"On Sight"
"Sermon (He'll Give Us What We Really Need)" by Holy Name Of Mary Choral Family
Presser, who sued West for an unauthorized sample in "New Slaves"
"New Slaves"
On May 20, 2016, Gábor Presser of the Hungarian rock band Omega sued West for using Omega's 1969 song "Gyöngyhajú Lány" in his own song "New Slaves".[33][34] In his lawsuit filed in United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Presser sought $2,500,000, stating that after The Yeezus Tour began in May 2013, West's lawyers attempted to quickly resolve any possible disputes with Presser within a 24-hour period by offering a $10,000 check, but Presser never agreed.[35] Specifically, Presser's complaint read: "West knowingly and intentionally misappropriated plaintiff's composition. After his theft was discovered, defendants refused to deal fairly with plaintiff."[36]
West tried to dismiss the lawsuit entirely, as well as relocate it entirely to the West Coast, though both efforts were unsuccessful.[37] Presser's filing in New York City meant that West was demanded to appear there for deposition despite living in Los Angeles with his then-wife, Kim Kardashian, and their two children.[38] However, upon asking for depositions to at least occur in Los Angeles, the judge presiding over the case granted West's request.[37] A trial was then due to begin on May 15, 2017, but in the preceding March, West and Presser settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.[39][40][41] Presser's lawyer, Peter Cane, stated that the dispute "has been resolved amicably".[42]
"Bound 2"
At the end of 2013, Ricky Spicer, a singer in the group Ponderosa Twins Plus One, sued West for sampling the group's song "Bound" for his own song "Bound 2" without permission.[43] The case was filed in New York, and Spicer sought "an injunction and damages for alleged violations of New York civil right of publicity law... unjust enrichment and common law copyright infringement."[44]
In May 2015, West and Spicer reached a settlement agreement with undisclosed details.[43][45]
In February 2019, the adoptive parents of a girl named Natalie Green sued West for illegally using a clip of Green's voice at the start of the song "Ultralight Beam".[47] They had adopted Green in 2012, four years before the video recording in question which West later sampled.[48] West's lawyers stated that they had sought permission from Green's birth mother, Alice Johnson, who filmed the video recording, but Johnson was no longer Green's legal parent by then, making her unable to clear the sample, according to Green's adoptive parents.[49] Furthermore, Green's adoptive parents stated that Johnson never formally agreed to the "Ultralight Beam" sample via paperwork anyway.[50] The case was filed in the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina; Green's adoptive parents sought profits and various damages.[51][52]
At first, West attempted to dismiss the lawsuit.[53] Later, in November 2020, West and Green's adoptive parents reached a settlement offer that they found "reasonable and proper and in the best interests of N.G., a minor, and adequately protects her interests."[54] The settlement was a total of $350,000—$125,000 went to Green's adoptive parents, $60,000 went to an unnamed person in the video recording, and $165,000 went to the lawyers who filed on their behalf.[11]
In March 2019, actor Ronald Oslin Bobb-Semple claimed that West and Kid Cudi's "Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)" illegally sampled Bobb-Semple's 2002 one-man show titled "The Spirit Of Marcus Garvey (Garvey speaks to an all-Black audience)" without providing credit or compensation.[57][58] As Ty Dolla Sign was featured on the song, he was also named in the lawsuit.[59][60]
West admitted to sampling Bobb-Semple's one-man show without permission but claimed the sample's usage fell under fair use and thus demanded that the case be dismissed.[61][57] In January 2020, Bobb-Semple and West settled.[62]
In July 2024, a music company called Artist Revenue Advocates sued West for using their instrumental song "MSD PT2" in both "Hurricane" and "Moon".[73] The song had been created by Khalil Abdul-Rahman, Sam Barsh, Dan Seeff, and Josh Mease, all of whom West credited yet didn't ask permission from.[74] The case was filed in California's federal court, demanded damages and an order to block the song, and is still pending.[75][11]
Later, Moten filed his lawsuit again under a different federal court. The case is still pending; a trial date is set for June 2025.[11]
"Life of the Party"
In November 2022, music company Phase One Network accused West of sampling Boogie Down Productions' song "South Bronx" for his and André 3000's song "Life of the Party". According to the case, West had submitted and then subsequently retracted a request to clear the sample in 2021.[80] Kano Computing, a tech company that designed West's Stem Player, was also named in the lawsuit.[81]
West claimed that KRS-One, a founder of Boogie Down Productions, stated that any rapper sampling his work would not be sued. The statement originated from a clip in a 2006 documentary titled The Art of 16 Bars.[82] In August 2024, both sides settled with an undisclosed agreement.[83]
"Lord I Need You"
Gospel singer Briana Babineaux stated that she was unaware that vocals from her rendition of "Make Me Over" were sampled in "Lord I Need You". However, the original composer of the song, B.Slade, pushed back against Babineaux's claims and stated that West had cleared the sample with him, "the rightful owner of the song legally."[84]
Donda 2
"Flowers"
In June 2022, music company Ultra International sued West for sampling the 1986 song "Move Your Body" by Marshall Jefferson in "Flowers", a song on the demo album Donda 2.[85] The company, along with Jefferson, stated that West had used the illegal sample 22 times.[86] In their lawsuit, they stated West admitted to sampling it without seeking permission or any other agreement.[87] The case was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York; Ultra International and Jefferson demanded profits and damages along with an end to distribution and a trial by jury.[86]
In November 2022, West's counsel, Greenberg Traurig, attempted to drop their legal representation of West following antisemitic remarks that he made. At the time, West was unreachable, and the judge presiding over the case eventually granted West's lawyers' request for withdrawal as long as they could serve the notice to him.[88] However, despite West's lawyers' attempts to contact him by phone, by his employees, and by other means, they stated to the judge that they were unable to ultimately serve him the notice.[89] The judge then told them to try again, as their efforts did not "indicate diligent efforts at attempting to locate Ye."[90] Eventually, in February 2023, West was dropped by his counsel, Greenberg Traurig, following antisemitic remarks that he made.[88] Later, in May, West settled with Ultra International and Jefferson.[91]
Osbourne, who threatened legal action against West and Ty Dolla Sign for an authorized sample in "Carnival"
"Carnival"
The original version of "Carnival" on Vultures 1 used a sample from Black Sabbath's live performance of "Iron Man" from 1983. Shortly after the album's release, Ozzy Osbourne stated that he had refused to clear the sample for West on grounds that he was "an antisemite and has caused untold heartache to many". Upon seeing West proceed with the sample anyway without permission, Osbourne threatened legal action.[94] Afterward, West removed the sample from "Carnival" and replaced it with a different Black Sabbath sample originally used in West's 2010 song "Hell of a Life" from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.[95]
"Fuk Sumn"
In November 2024, several hip-hop artists from Memphis, Tennessee sued West and Ty Dolla Sign for using the 1994 song "Drank a Yak (Part 2)" in the Vultures 1 song "Fuk Sumn" without credit or compensation.[96][97] The Memphis musicians claimed to have participated in talks for sample clearance with West and Ty Dolla Sign, but no formal agreement was reached due to stalls in discussion as a result of the turnover of Yeezy employees in June 2022. The case is ongoing.[98]
"Good (Don't Die)"
In February 2024, Donna Summer's estate sued West and Ty Dolla Sign for interpolating Summer's 1977 song "I Feel Love" in their Vultures 1 song "Good (Don't Die)".[99] When West had approached the estate earlier to clear the sample, they denied it, stating they didn't want to associate with West following his controversies: "The Summer Estate sought to protect the valuable intellectual property... from any public association with the negative publicity surrounding West."[100] Afterward, West re-recorded parts of Summer's song with his own voice to use as a hook which "shocked" the estate. The case was filed in the federal court of Los Angeles.[101][100]
In June 2024, West and Summer's estate reached a settlement agreement; one term was that West and Ty Dolla Sign would not distribute "Good (Don't Die)", thus leading to its removal from the Vultures 1 track list.[102]
A musician named Swsh stated that they found out on the morning of Vultures 2's release that the song "530" had sampled their music without authorization. However, legal action was not pursued.[105]
Other
"Girls, Girls, Girls (Remix)"
In March 2012, Bobby Poindexter of The Persuaders claimed that West's remix of Jay-Z's "Girls, Girls, Girls" used an uncleared sample from The Persuaders' "Trying Girls Out". (West's "Girls, Girls, Girls (Remix)" had been on his mixtape Freshmen Adjustment 2.) Poindexter also claimed that West willfully knew of his copyright infringement, as "[West] had also produced a legally-licensed version of the same song for Jay-Z's album The Blueprint" earlier in 2001.[11] The case was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and West was sued for $500,000. Poindexter stated, "I have offered to resolve this matter out of court with Kanye West. But in response, he has refused to even discuss any ‘out-of-court’ resolutions whatsoever."[106]
Due to Poindexter's lack of legal representation, the case didn't proceed. He tried a second time later but failed for other process-related issues.[11]
"Come Back Baby"
In 2018, during the Wyoming Sessions, West produced all of the songs on American rapper Pusha T's album Daytona. One song, "Come Back Baby" was accused of illegally sampling blues and soul musician George Jackson's "I Can't Do Without You".[107] Naming both West and Pusha T, along with UMG Recordings, Def Jam Recordings, and GOOD Music, the case was filed by Fame Enterprises, a company that owned the rights to Jackson's song.[108] The company charged that a non-trivial portion of Pusha T's song utilized the sample and that the song's content about "selling drugs" would not have received a cleared sample "under any circumstances."[11]
Fame Enterprises dropped the case after six months.[11]
^Graduation (Media notes). Kanye West. Roc-A-Fella Records. 2007.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^808s & Heartbreak (Media notes). Kanye West. Roc-A-Fella Records. 2008. 0-06025-1791919-8.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^West, Kanye (2010). My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (Media notes). Roc-A-Fella Records.
