Kanye “Ye” West is facing a new copyright infringement lawsuit.
Kanye West is being sued for sampling a song by a legendary house musician Marshall Jefferson's without permission on “Donda 2”
Ye Stem Player exclusive Donda 2, is now at the center of a copyright infringement claim a track titled “Flowers.”
Jefferson's publisher Ultra International Music Publishing filed a complaint at New York's US District Court on Wednesday.
Ultra-International Music Publishing LLC (UIMP) alleges the track in question “directly samples” the 1986 song “Move Your Body,” written by house artist Marshall Jefferson, who’s also from Chicago. An unauthorized sample of the song, which is affectionately referred to as the “House Music Anthem,” is said to be repeated “at least” 22 times in the Donda 2 track.
Jefferson's “Move Your Body” was released by Trax Records in 1986 and peaked at No. 34 on Billboard's Dance Singles Sales chart.
“I’ve been sampled thousands of times. There is a right way and a wrong way to go about it,” Jefferson told BBC Radio 1’s Newsbeat. “Getting done by another artist, a Black artist, a fellow Chicagoan without acknowledgment is disappointing.”
“West advocates for artists’ rights with one hand yet has no shame in taking away rights from another artist with the other,” the suit states.
Jefferson is seeking profits and damages to be determined at a trial, or maximum statutory damages of $150,000 per infringement.
Donda 2, a sequel to last year’s Donda, began its rollout in February as a Stem Player exclusive. It has since remained exclusive to the device, which goes for $200 and gives users a uniquely immersive and participatory listening experience.