Kanye West Sued By Famed House Producer Over "Donda 2" Song "Flowers"

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Ye arrives to the arena for the fight between Jamel Herring and Shakur Stevenson at State Farm Arena on October 23, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Kanye West is accused of using an unauthorized sample of Marshall Jefferson's "Move Your Body" on "Donda 2."

It's been a few months since Kanye dropped Donda 2 exclusively on his stem player and it's now at the center of a new lawsuit. Per Billboard, the publishing house for Marshall Jefferson's "Move Your Body" is accusing Ye of using an unauthorized sample from the song for his latest album.

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A complaint filed to the U.S. District Court in New York City on behalf of Ultra International Music Publishing claims that Kanye West used unauthorized portions of the song to produce the record, "Flowers." The suit says that the sample is "repeated at least 22 times throughout" the song. Attorneys Christine Lepera and Bradley J. Mullins also name Alex Klein, the co-creator of the Stem Player, and his company Kano Computing Limited. 

Lepera and Mullins directly attack Kanye West's "hypocrisy" as being an advocate for artists' rights yet sampling other artists without compensating them for their work.  "West advocates for artists’ rights with one hand, yet has no shame in taking away rights from another artist with the other,” the suit reads.

The lawsuit also claims that Kanye West and his representatives acknowledged the sample was taken without permission. "Defendants’ conduct is willful and deliberate,” the complaint continues. “Defendants know and have been informed that they do not possess a license to utilize the Composition in the Unauthorized Work, and yet continue to willfully infringe in blatant disregard of UIMP’s rights of ownership.”

UIMP says they would determine profits and damages during trial or alternatively, $150K per infringement, lawyer fees, and prejudgment interest. 

 


About The Author
Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.
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