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List of Kanye West samples and sampling disputes

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American rapper Kanye West has been involved in several legal disputes over his uncleared sampling, or the taking of parts of other songs to incorporate into his own.

Late Registration

"Gold Digger"

In April of 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. 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. The lawsuit was filed in the Los Angeles County Superior Court. 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."

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."

"Gone"

In May of 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." 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."

Firrantello and West reached a settlement in 2010.

Watch the Throne

"The Joy"

In October of 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". 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. The case was filed on October 14 in Illinois federal court. Johnson sought "injunction, actual and punitive damages and attorney’s fees."

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 of 2012.

Yeezus

"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". 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 Tourbegan in May of 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. 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."

West tried to dismiss the lawsuit entirely, as well as relocate it entirely to the West Coast, though both efforts were unsuccessful. 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. However, upon asking for depositions to at least occur in Los Angeles, the judge presiding over the case granted West's request.

A trial was due to begin on May 15, 2017, but in March, West and Presser settled out of court for an undisclosed amount. Presser's lawyer, Peter Cane, stated that the dispute "has been resolved amicably".

The Life of Pablo

"Ultralight Beam"

In February of 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". They had adopted Green in 2012, four years before the video recording in question which West later sampled. 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. Furthermore, Green's adoptive parents stated that Johnson never formally agreed to the "Ultralight Beam" sample via paperwork anyway. 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.

At first, West attempted to dismiss the lawsuit. Later, in November of 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." 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.

Kids See Ghosts

"Ghost Town"

In March of 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. As Ty Dolla Sign was featured on the song, he was also named in the lawsuit.

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. In January of 2020, Bobb-Semple and West settled.

Donda and Donda 2

"Come to Life"

In May of 2022, Texas pastor David P. Moten sued West for using one minute and ten seconds of Moten's recorded sermon in the Donda song "Come to Life". Moten filed the lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He demanded for the case to go to trial by jury and additionally sought damages.

Later, Moten filed his lawsuit again under a different federal court. The case is still pending; a trial date is set for June of 2025.

"Life of the Party"

In November of 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. Kano Computing, a tech company that designed West's Stem Player, was also named in the lawsuit.

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. In August of 2024, both sides settled with an undisclosed agreement.

"Flowers"

In June of 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. The company, along with Jefferson, stated that West had used the illegal sample 22 times. In their lawsuit, they stated West admitted to sampling it without seeking permission or any other agreement. 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.

In November of 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. 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. The judge then told them to try again, as their efforts did not "indicate diligent efforts at attempting to locate Ye." Eventually, in February of 2023, West was dropped by his counsel, Greenberg Traurig, following antisemitic remarks that he made. Later, in May, West settled with Ultra International and Jefferson.

Vultures 1 and Vultures 2

"Good (Don't Die)"

In February of 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)". 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." Afterward, West re-recorded parts of Summers' 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.

In June of 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.

Other

"Girls, Girls, Girls (Remix)"

In March of 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 " had also produced a legally-licensed version of the same song for Jay-Z’s album The Blueprint" earlier in 2001. 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."

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.

"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". 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. 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."

Fame Enterprises dropped the case after six months.

References

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