Donna Summer Estate Sues Kanye West Over Uncleared “I Feel Love” Interpolation
Kanye West has been sued by Donna Summer’s estate over the unlicensed “I Feel Love” interpolation on “Good (Don’t Die),” a track that originally appeared on Vultures 1, the album that West released with Ty Dolla $ign earlier this month. As Billboard reports, a lawsuit was filed by the estate in Los Angeles federal court on Tuesday. The estate had previously publicly accused West of copyright infringement; shortly after, “Good (Don’t Die)” was removed from streaming services.
The suit states that West “shamelessly used instantly recognizable portions” of the song even after he was “explicitly denied” the right to do so. “Summer’s estate … wanted no association with West’s controversial history and specifically rejected West’s proposed use,” the suit reads. “In the face of this rejection, defendants arrogantly and unilaterally decided they would simply steal ‘I Feel Love’ and use it without permission.” Though West re-recorded his own version of the song to interpolate on his track, the estate’s attorneys say it was “instantly recognized” as a copy of the original Summer song.
“This lawsuit is about more than Defendants’ mere failure to pay the appropriate licensing fee for using another’s musical property,” the suit continued. “It is also about the rights of artists to decide how their works are used and presented to the public, and the need to prevent anyone from simply stealing creative works when they cannot secure the right to use them legally.”
Following the release of Vultures 1, Ozzy Osbourne also called out West for using an unauthorized sample. West sampled of a live recording of “Iron Man,” and they filed a cease and desist against him. The sample was replaced with a recording from West’s own “Hell Of A Life,” which contained a previously cleared sample of “Iron Man.”