Kanye West to pay $400k+ in “Donda” copyright infringement suit

A Los Angeles jury found Kanye West liable for copyright infringement, ordering him and three of his business entities to pay $438,558 in damages over the unauthorized use of a recording during a listening party for his 2021 album “Donda.”

The lawsuit was filed in 2024 by Artist Revenue Advocates (ARA), a Delaware LLC whose members include four musicians— Khalil Abdul-Rahman, Sam Barsh, Dan Seeff and Josh Mease. They alleged West’s songs “Hurricane” and “Moon” infringed on their 2018 composition and sample “MSD PT2.”

While the final version of “Hurricane,” which went on to win a Grammy, did not include the sample, the plaintiffs argued an earlier version of the track featuring their recording was played during the first “Donda” listening event at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium on July 22, 2021. The event was attended by 40,000 fans, according to Rolling Stone.

In February, Judge Michelle Williams Court of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California issued a mixed ruling, granting summary judgment on most claims while allowing a narrower set of allegations to proceed to trial. A Feb. 20 mediation attempt failed to produce a settlement.

The jury verdict Tuesday, May 12, followed a weeklong trial. Jurors found West personally liable for $176,153, and his company Yeezy LLC liable for the same amount. His retail merchandising companies, Yeezy Supply and Mascotte Holdings, were ordered to pay $41,625 and $44,627, respectively, according to Rolling Stone.

In closing arguments, lead plaintiffs’ attorney Irene Lee said the sample formed the indisputable “backbone” of “Hurricane.”

Lee argued West “just took” the sample, used it and then discarded it after monetizing it at the listening event. She said the value of “MSD PT2” was tied to that performance because the sample is now “forever going to be associated” to West.

“We never got a chance to send it to anybody else. No other artist will touch this once somebody like Ye touched it,” Lee said, according to Rolling Stone.

Lawyers for ARA argued West generated $5.6 million from ticket sales, merchandise and a deal with Apple Music to stream the show.

Following the verdict, Britton Monts, a manager for Artists Revenue Advocates, told Rolling Stone the decision marked a victory for working musicians.

“It’s a victory for working artists, who typically lack the resources to go against someone like Ye, a megastar and celebrity,” Monts said, adding, “The underdogs got their day in court.”

A spokesman for West dismissed the case as “a failed shakedown.”

“Six months ago, they wanted $30 million out of Ye,” the spokesman told Rolling Stone.“The moral of the story? There is a cost attached to thinking you can take advantage of Ye,” he added, claiming ARA spent millions in legal fees for the six-figure award.

Monts said ARA plans to appeal a prior ruling that dismissed potentially more lucrative claims involving the final version of “Hurricane” on “Donda,” which included an alleged interpolation rather than the sample.

“We’ll be appealing the larger part of the case to the Ninth Circuit. We’re hopeful that the case will come back, and then we’ll try the larger damages,” Monts told Rolling Stone. In 2022, West also faced a separate copyright infringement lawsuit involving the song “Flowers” from his “Donda 2” album. Filed in June of that year by Ultra International Music Publishing, the case was brought on behalf of Chicago house music legend Marshall Jefferson.