"Kanye West is on the hook for six-figure damages after a jury found he infringed the copyright of an unreleased demo track by sampling it in an early version of his Grammy-winning song "Hurricane" that he played for 40,000 fans at a sold-out Donda listening concert five years ago."
"In a verdict delivered Tuesday afternoon, eight jurors unanimously decided that West, now known as Ye, is personally liable for $176,153, and his company, Yeezy LLC, is liable for $176,153. His retail merchandising companies, Yeezy Supply and Mascotte Holdings, were found liable for $41,625 and $44,627, respectively."
"The outcome is unsurprising given that he admitted at trial that he played "Hurricane" without any standing agreement with the artists he sampled. The verdict is a rounding error for Ye in the grand scheme of things, but it's a win for small artists that challenged one of the biggest names in the industry."
"His legal team couches the lawsuit as a money grab and, despite his testimony at trial, stated that he was very generous when it came to working with collaborators. TL;DR: Make sure all of the samples are cleared before you drop a highly anticipated album."
A jury found Ye liable for copyright infringement after he sampled an unreleased demo track in an early version of “Hurricane.” The sampled material was used in a version played at a sold-out Donda listening concert for 40,000 fans. The jury awarded $176,153 in personal liability to Ye and $176,153 in liability to Yeezy LLC. Additional retail merchandising companies were also found liable, with Yeezy Supply receiving $41,625 and Mascotte Holdings receiving $44,627. Ye admitted at trial that he played “Hurricane” without a standing agreement with the artists he sampled. The result is framed as a win for smaller artists and a reminder to clear samples before releasing major projects.
Read at Above the Law
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