Kanye West is one of the best in the business when it comes to using samples in his music. However, at the same time he tends to find himself in some legal trouble because of his creative process. That's where he's at once more as he's facing another copyright lawsuit for DONDA 2.
Per Billboard, the controversial Chicago rapper is being sued over allegedly sampling soul singer Sam Dees' 1975 record "Just Out Of My Reach" without permission. The filing was sent into federal court this Thursday, September 4, by The GRC Trust on behalf of Ginn Music Group.
The latter is from Atlanta, and they own the publishing rights to Dee's catalog. The song they are targeting in particular is Kanye West's and Vory's collaborative effort "LORD LIFT ME UP."
Below, you can hear the two songs back-to-back and there is a blatant use of Sam Dees' song. In particular, Kanye West heavily used the first few seconds of "Just Out Of My Reach" and appears to loop it for the 2:10 runtime of "LORD LIFT ME UP."
Copyright infringement claims are being thrust upon Kanye West, Yeezy LLC, and Vory. The latter's government name is Tavoris Javon Hollins.
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But it's not just the artists that are being hit with this lawsuit. The GRC Trust is also naming Kano Computing and its founder, Alex Klein. They are responsible for helping Kanye with the Stem Player device. You may remember that this was the only way to listen to DONDA 2 when it initially released in February 2022.
"At no point… did defendants obtain authorization from GRC to use the composition in connection with the infringing work. Defendants continue to exploit and receive monies from the infringing work, respectively, in violation of GRC’s rights in his composition," their filing reads.
They are seeking a legal injunction as well as specific rewards. They include "all profits of defendants… plus all losses of GRC, plus any other monetary advantage gained by the defendants through their infringement."
This lawsuit arrives just weeks before the release of his new documentary, In Whose Name? It's been talked about for the last year or so and will highlight his 2018 to 2024. It's premiering in select theaters and will focus on topics such as divorce from Kim Kardashian, antisemitism remarks, and more.
