Kanye West is being sued once again. According to Billboard, Kanye West is being sued over an unauthorized sample used on his latest album ‘Donda 2’.
Kanye West being sued by Ultra International Music Publishing:
On June 29th, a complaint was filed with the U.S. District Court in New York. The complaint claims that Kanye West’s song ‘Flowers’ samples Marshall Jefferson’s 1986 Chicago house hit ‘The House Music Anthem’. Kanye West allegedly used it without permission.
The lawsuit was filed by Ultra International Music Publishing on behalf of Jefferson. However, the claim states he sampled “Move Your Body” without authorization from Jefferson. A statement reads, “continues to willfully infringe in blatant disregard of UIMP’s rights of ownership”.
Others involved in lawsuit:
The lawsuit also names Alex Klein who was the co-creator of Kanye West’s “Stem Player”. The Stem Player is a $200 music device that ‘Donda 2’ was released on. Alex Klein’s company “Kano Computing Limited” is also listed in the suit. Ultra International Music Publishing is seeking profits and ceasing the distribution of the song.
Within 24 hours of the release, Kanye West sold 11,000 Stem Players on February 23rd. This produced $2.2 million in revenue. The album has still yet to be available on other streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube.
Kanye speaks about the oppressive music industry:
Kanye has been outspoken on how the music industry is oppressive. “Today artists get just 12% of the money the industry makes. It’s time to free music from the oppressive system. It’s time to take control and build our own”.
‘Donda 2‘ featured some of the best in the industry. With features from Future, Travis Scott, Quavo, and Offset.
Finally, Kanye West is no stranger to being sued. In May, Kanye was sued for sampling a Texas pastor’s speech on a ‘Donda’ track ‘Come To Life’. Stay tuned to see if Kanye will beat the lawsuit.