Kanye West Settles Copyright Lawsuit with Donna Summer Estate over ‘Unauthorized Interpolation’ on Vultures 1 Song
The disco icon’s estate filed a lawsuit against West and collaborator Ty Dolla $ign in February over their use of her song “I Feel Love” on their joint project
Kanye West has settled the copyright infringement lawsuit that the Donna Summer estate filed against him and Ty Dolla $ign earlier this year over their “unauthorized interpolation” of the disco icon’s “I Feel Love” song on their Vultures 1 project, PEOPLE confirms.
According to court documents filed on Thursday, June 20 and obtained by PEOPLE, attorneys for both parties state they’ve “entered into a settlement agreement that is a full and final settlement of all of the claims in the action” and that each side will handle its own legal bills from the court dispute.
After the settlement filing, Larry Stein, lead counsel for the Summer estate, told Billboard that the finalized agreement does not include permission for West (now known professionally as Ye), 47, to use the late singer’s material in the future.
“We did not license the song,” said Stein. “As part of the settlement, they have agreed not to distribute or otherwise use the song. So we got what we wanted.”
In court documents obtained by PEOPLE in February, the Donna Summer estate accused West and Ty Dolla $ign, 42, of “blatant theft” for using an interpolation of Summer’s “I Feel Love” on their Vultures 1 song “Good (Don’t Die)” “without permission.”
The lawsuit — which names the Queen of Disco’s husband, Bruce Sudano, as the lead plaintiff — claimed that the musicians “arrogantly and unilaterally decided they would simply steal” the 1977 track after they requested permission from the singer’s estate to use parts of it. Per the filing, the duo were “explicitly denied” permission because Summer’s estate “wanted no association with West’s controversial history.”
“Despite this denial, Defendants shamelessly used instantly recognizable portions of Summer’s hit song, ‘I FEEL LOVE,’ on their recently released collaborative album, ‘Vultures 1,’ and in recorded live concerts,” the lawsuit stated.
Prior to the release of Vultures I, documents alleged that an entity known as “Alien Music” requested the use of excerpts from “I Feel Love” on West’s behalf in late January. According to the court filing, Alien Music asked “for expedited review” because of the project’s Feb. 9 release date, which seemed to allegedly indicate the rappers had “already completed and readied their song for release without obtaining permission or even notifying the Summer Estate of their use.”
The suit stated that Summer’s estate was “shocked” to learn that West and Ty Dolla $ign’s Vultures 1 released with the inclusion of the “I Feel Love” interpolation despite the two “being expressly refused permission” to use the song “more than once.”
“In the face of these repeated denials, West and Co-Defendants attempted to get around this roadblock by instead making an unauthorized interpolation,” the filing claimed, adding that the musical collaborators used the “iconic melody” from Summer’s hit as the hook for “Good (Don’t Die)” and “re-recorded almost verbatim” key parts of the song, also allegedly “without permission.”
Documents state that the “infringing recording” was later removed from major streaming platforms and other distributors.
