The estate of American singer-songwriter, Donna Summer (“Summer’s Estate”), has issued proceedings against Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, after the rap singer allegedly sampled parts of her 1977 song ‘I Feel Love’ in his new album, ‘Vultures 1’, which was released on 10 February.
Summer’s Estate claims that Ye’s actions, alongside singer, Ty Dolla $ign, amounts to infringement of the copyright which vests in the late singer’s work by utilising ‘instantly recognisable’ parts of her hit in their new song ‘Good (Don’t Die)’, without permission to do so.
The alleged infringement comes after Ye previously requested permission to sample Summer’s hit and was rejected on the basis that the Summer’s Estate had concerned about the ‘potential degradation to Summer’s legacy’ any association with Ye may bring.
Summer’s Estate has stated that this dispute concerns ‘the rights of artists to decide how their works are used … and the need to prevent anyone from simply stealing creative works when they cannot secure the right to use them legally’.
This is not the first time Ye has been the face of legal proceedings, it is is to be seen if this one will play out in his favour.
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