Kanye West‘s Donda 2 might have set records on its exclusive Stem player release back in February, reportedly netting over $2.2 million in revenue within the first day following its release. However, it may appear that Ye may have to share some of that money with another artist who is accusing him of sampling a track without permission.
Marshall Jefferson, a Chicago-based house artist, is accusing Ye of sampling his 1986 dance hit “Move Your Body” at least 22 times on the track “Flowers” on Donda 2.
On Wednesday, Jefferson’s publisher Ultra International Music Publishing filed a formal complaint in New York’s US District Court. The lawsuit asks for profits and damages to be determined at a trial or maximum statutory damages of $150,000 per infringement.
Jefferson, who had just performed in England over the past weekend, explained to the BBC that his issue was not with Ye’s sampling of the track, but with the fact that Ye did not ask permission or request a license (which would have allowed Jefferson to collect royalties, saying: “I’ve been sampled thousands of times. There is a right way and a wrong way to go about it. Getting done by another artist, a black artist, a fellow Chicagoan without acknowledgment is disappointing.”
“Move Your Body”, which was released by Trax Records in 1986, peaked at No. 34 on Billboard’s Dance Singles Sales chart that same year.
According to the lawsuit, Jefferson’s representatives allege that Ye and his team had discussions where they admitted to sampling “Move Your Body” on the “Flowers” track.
As of Thursday morning, neither Ye nor his team at Universal Music Group, which is also named in the suit, had publicly responded to the lawsuit.
This is not Ye’s first dust-up with copyright infringement law. He was also sued in May by David Paul Moten, a Texas pastor, who alleges that Ye sampled parts of one of his spoken sermons without permission.
Lawsuits regarding samples used on Yeezus tracks “New Slaves” and “Bound 2” were both privately settled out of court.
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