Kanye West has lost his copyright legal battle over an uncleared sample on the original version of his ‘Donda’ track ‘Hurricane’, though he’s still feeling rather smug about the whole thing. His official statement doesn't quite quote Alan Partridge, but you could definitely add “needless to say, I had the last laugh” on the end of it, and it would fit right in.
Six months ago Artist Revenue Advocates - the company that bought the rights in the sampled track and then sued West - “wanted $30 million out of Ye”, says a statement from the rapper’s Yeezy company. But “they got 0.5% of that today” in the damages awarded by the jury, and “we estimate it cost them $5 million in lawyers’ fees plus the million dollars they paid to the original artists”.
Which means “they are now $5.8 million in the hole”, according to Yeezy maths. Therefore the moral of the story, the Yeezy statement concludes, is that “there’s a cost attached to thinking you can take advantage of Ye”. Even if he’s sampled your music without getting the necessary permission.
West sampled a track called ‘MSD PT2’ by DJ Khalil, Sam Barsh, Daniel Seeff and Josh Mease on the original versions of two ‘Donda' tracks: ‘Hurricane’ and ‘Moon’. After he was unable to clear the samples, they were removed from the released versions of ‘Hurricane’ and ‘Moon’, however, the original versions were played out at West’s much hyped ‘Donda’ listening parties in 2021.
That alone constituted copyright infringement, ARA argued. And given how much money West made from those parties, from ticket and merch sales and his Apple deal, he should have to pay hefty damages for that infringement.
West himself testified during the copyright trial, insisting his team “went through the normal process” when trying to clear the ‘MSD PT2’ sample, but licensing talks stalled because Khalil, Barsh, Seeff and Mease were making unreasonable demands.
In closing arguments, West’s lawyer told the jury that while the original versions of ‘Hurricane’ and ‘Moon’ were indeed played at the ‘Donda’ listening parties, that was just a “test drive” of the tracks endorsed by the ‘MSD PT2’ producers who at the time were “excited” about the possibility of having their song sampled on West’s record.
But the jury concluded that West’s uncleared sample was nevertheless copyright infringement and awarded ARA damages. The exact amount isn’t clear. Two of West's companies - Yeezy Supply and Ox Paha Inc - were told to pay $41,625 and $44,627 respectively, having benefited from brand and merchandise income associated with the listening parties.
West and his main Yeezy company were also ordered to pay $176,153, though it’s not clear if that’s each or between them. West’s people insist it’s between them.
ARA, which got involved in the dispute after Khalil, Barsh, Seeff and Mease were ghosted by West’s team, says the ruling is a “victory for working artists who typically lack the resources to go against someone like Ye - a megastar and celebrity”.
A spokesperson for the company also said that there remains another unsettled matter in relation to the dispute. ARA also claimed that, while West removed the ‘MSD PT2’ samples from the final released versions of his tracks, he still interpolated musical elements of the sampled work in his composition, which needed to be separately cleared.
That claim did not proceed in court because of a dispute over whether or not ARA’s deal with Khalil, Barsh, Seeff and Mease gave it the right to sue in relation to the separate composition copyright. ARA clearly plans to fight on with that element of the case.
Given that dispute relates to the much more lucrative released versions of ‘Hurricane’ and ‘Moon’, success in that part of the dispute could result in much more substantial damages. So, maybe, just maybe, it could as yet be ARA that has the last laugh.