Rapper, legally known as Ye, has been ordered to pay a six-figure sum to four plaintiffs who successfully argued that he infringed copyright by using an uncleared sample of their work during a live event.
In July 2021, Ye performed his then-unreleased album, ‘Donda,’ for an audience of 40,000 fans at a listening party held at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The song “Hurricane” from this performance incorporated a sample from an instrumental track titled “MSD PT2.” This instrumental was originally composed in 2018 by four musicians: Khalil Abdul-Rahman, Sam Barsh, Josh Mease, and Dan Seeff. The instrumental reportedly reached Ye through another producer.
The plaintiffs successfully contended that Ye had infringed upon their copyright by playing this sample without proper clearance.