Kanye West in lawsuit by Donna Summer Estate over copyright claim

The late American singer-songwriter Donna Summer's estate has claimed that hip-hop star Kanye West sampled her 1977 hit song 'I Feel Love' for his latest album without permission.

In this California lawsuit, Summer's widower Bruce Sudano alleged that Ty Dolla $ign and West had used the song after their request was "explicitly denied" to use the sample by the estate on their joint album Vultures 1.

The lawsuit stated that the duo used "instantly recognizable" slices of Summer's song in their recently released track 'Good (Don't Die)'.

The estate has claimed that they contacted music streaming services to take the song off of all platforms. The lawsuit claims that the song's instant success, streaming millions of times, has harmed the estate.

Summer's estate is asking for major damages and an injunction blocking further distribution of the song containing the sample.

Not long after Vultures 1 was released, Kanye and his team took to Instagram to say:“@kanyewest asked permission to use Donna Summer’s song I Feel Love, he was denied… he changed the words, had someone re-sing it or used AI but it’s I Feel Love… copyright infringement!!!”

Following this, the track disappeared from Spotify due to these clearance issues. However, on Saturday (February 24th), fans were surprised to find that it was re-released on the tracklist. This sparked many questions surrounding the controversy. Since then, the song has yet again been made unavailable to stream on the platform.

Listen to Vultures 1 on Spotify here:

Sudano made claims that the estate denied West’s request for clearance on the song's use, elucidating the rapper’s “controversial history.” Last month, on West's behalf, an entity named Alien Music requested Summer’s estate's clearance to use samples. The estate rejected this proposal on Feb. 3. Proceeding this, Alien Music allegedly went to Summer’s label Universal Music Enterprises, which also denied usage of the samples.

The estate was weary of permitting the sample, stating “the Summer Estate not only considered the immense commercial value of the ‘I Feel Love’ composition, but also the potential degradation to Summer’s legacy,” the complaint continued. “West is known as a controversial public figure whose conduct has led numerous brands and business partners to disassociate from him.”

Rock legend Ozzy Osbourne also asserted that West used a sample of a Black Sabbath song without permission.

Osbourne took to X saying this:

. @KANYEWEST ASKED PERMISSION TO SAMPLE A SECTION OF A 1983 LIVE PERFORMANCE OF “IRON MAN” FROM THE US FESTIVAL WITHOUT VOCALS & WAS REFUSED PERMISSION BECAUSE HE IS AN ANTISEMITE AND HAS CAUSED UNTOLD HEARTACHE TO MANY. HE WENT AHEAD AND USED THE SAMPLE ANYWAY AT HIS ALBUM…

— Ozzy Osbourne (@OzzyOsbourne) February 9, 2024

According to Billboard and the Chicago Tribune, Ty Dolla $ign and Ye performed tracks from the album at Chicago's United Center on February 8th. Videos were posted on social media, displaying that the "Iron Man" sample was included in the song "Carnival." This song, though, is not included in Spotify's version of the track.

This might've come as a shock, considering that Ye had previously sampled 'Iron Man' in his 2010 song 'Hell of a Life,' from his 2010 album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

When reached by USA TODAY, a representative for Osbourne shared a statement from Sharon Osbourne's office that states, "We are considering legal action. Our team have spoken with theirs."

After dropping on all streaming services, the album was taken down from Apple Music and iTunes and then added back as a single.

Nevertheless, the song then hit #1 on US Apple Music:

Kanye West, Ty Dolla $ign, @RichtheKid and Playboi Carti’s "CARNIVAL" has returned to #1 on US Apple Music. pic.twitter.com/Oa6d7GTpJJ

— chart data (@chartdata) February 25, 2024

Another track entitled 'Everybody' had played at the Vultures listening event in New York. Listeners recognized the sample as the Backstreet Boys song of the same name. The song reportedly was not cleared and didn’t make it onto the first volume of Vultures on any streaming platforms.

As of now, the collaboration has garnered close to 169 million on-demand streams in the United States.