Legendary rocker Ozzy Osbourne has already made it known that he didn’t approve of Ye — the rapper formerly known as Kanye West — sampling a song by his band Black Sabbath without permission. But now the estate of another Rock & Roll Hall of Famer has gone a step further and sued West for using a song without permission.
The estate of the late Donna Summer has sued both West and his collaborator, rapper Ty Dolla $ign, for copyright infringement for interpolating her iconic song “I Feel Love” on their song “Good (Don’t Die).” The suit, obtained by ABC Audio, claims that the two rappers initially asked for permission to use the song, but were denied.
On the song, a female voice sings different lyrics to the melody of “I Feel Love.”
After the album on which the song appears was released earlier this month, Summer’s widower, Bruce Sudano, announced on social media that West had been denied permission to use the song. The song is currently unavailable to stream on Spotify. Sudano is the main plaintiff in the suit.
The suit claims that the reason permission wasn’t granted was because of West’s “controversial history” and seeks $150,000 for each act of infringement, plus legal fees and the “impoundment” of “all copies” of the song and “all masters, tapes, film negatives, or other articles by means of which such copies may be reproduced.”
The case states that the suit has been brought in order to protect “Summer’s own musical legacy and one of popular music’s most influential and ground-breaking songs.”
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