Kanye West faced default judgement in court after he failed to respond to a sample clearance lawsuit from Boogie Down Productions over the Donda track “Life of the Party” featuring André 3000. Moreover, he took the hip-hop pioneering group’s 1986 cut, “South Bronx.” Furthermore, the song’s copyright holders (Phase One Network) sued Ye and Kano Computing (who created the Donda-affiliated Stem Player). Also, they targeted Def Jam Recordings and others last year for copyright infringement in the case. They claimed the Chicago rapper never cleared the sample and sent a post-facto request in July 2021. Then, his team retracted it November of that year, and released it on the Stem Player anyway.
According to court documents obtained by AllHipHop, the Clerk of Court for New York’s Southern District submitted an entry of default on Wednesday (March 8). In addition, Phase One had requested such actions back in January. “I, Ruby J. Krajick, Clerk of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, do hereby certify that this action was commenced on November 7, 2022 with the filing of a summons and complaint, a copy of the summons and complaint was served on defendant Ye … by delivery of a true copy of each to Defendant Ye, and proof was therefore filed on January 26, 2023,” the documents stated.
Kanye Wests Defaults In Lawsuit From Boogie Down Productions “Donda” Sample
“I further certify that the docket entries indicate that Defendant Ye has failed to plead or otherwise defend the action,” they added. “The default of Defendant Ye is hereby noted.” Not only that, but Phase One elaborated on their qualms in its suit. “The West parties retracted the licensing request despite having already incorporated ‘South Bronx’ into the Infringing Track, distributed the infringing track through the Stem Player and its associated website, and incorporated the Infringing Track into the Infringing Advertisements.”
Meanwhile, the Yeezy mogul also faces a sample lawsuit over a track from Donda 2. This time, Ultra International Music Publishing (UIMP) sued him for an unauthorized sample of Marshall Jefferson’s “Move Your Body.” Moreover, the 1986 track in question appeared on Kanye’s “Flowers.” What’s more is that they claim he knew he sampled it without permission. Instead of clearing it, UIMP claims he “continue[d] to willfully infringe in blatant disregard of UIMP’s rights of ownership.” Regardless of your take, log back into HNHH for the latest news and updates on Kanye West.